Microsoft beats Wall Street view on high demand for cloud products

epa05021397 Customers are seen lining up to attend the grand opening of the Microsoft flagship store in Sydney, Australia, 12 November 2015. Microsoft's first flagship store outside North America opened in Sydney's Pitt Street mall shopping precinct on 12 November. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Microsoft Corp reported quarterly revenue and profit that beat analysts' expectations, driven by aggressive cost cutting and growing demand for its cloud products and services. 

Chief executive Satya Nadella has focused on cloud services and mobile applications on slower growth in its traditional software business. Companies moving much of their information technology off premises, part of the cloud-computing trend, proved a bright spot.