Microsoft sales grow on cloud strength, shares dip on heightened valuation

Microsoft Corp met analysts’ quarterly sales expectations and beat profit estimates, but its shares fell slightly reflecting some skepticism about one-off benefits included in the results and high hopes after a year-long rally.

By grabbing market share in the booming market for cloud computing and expanding business services such as its Teams collaboration service and LinkedIn social network, the Redmond, Washington company has become one of the world’s most valuable companies, worth close to $2 trillion after a 50% stock runup over the past year.