Microsoft beat quarterly revenue expectations on Tuesday, as demand soared for cloud-based services from businesses adopting hybrid work models. The software giant reported strong Q1 FY22 results, sending shares up 2% in aftermarket trading. First-quarter revenues grew 20% year-on-year, excluding currency and operational leverage, while currency supported 25% EPS growth in USD.All three segments grew year on year and, strong growth trends continued to be visible across key products in all Microsoft’s segments.According to Microsoft, the demand for cloud-based services provided by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been on the rise since the hit of the COVID pandemic that forced the economy and specific sector to shut down. As a result, revenue for Azure (its “Intelligent Cloud”) rose 31% to $17 billion. Microsoft Cloud generated $20,7 billion in revenue for the quarter, starting the fiscal year strong and up 36% year-on-year.The cloud business is one of the fastest-growing in tech, and during a conference call with analysts, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella commented:“We are building Azure as the world’s computer with more data center regions than any other provider, delivering fast access to cloud services to cloud services while addressing critical data residency requirements.”Though analysts expected an average revenue of $43.97 billion, the company ended its first quarter on a high of $45.32 billion from $37.15 billion a year earlier.Get all your questions about stock trading answered HERE.Resources: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/microsoft-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-on-cloud-boost-2021-10-26 https://seekingalpha.com/article/4462245-microsoft-earnings-strong-start-fy22-q1-beating-guidance-significantly