Microsoft Beats Expectations, Posts Record Second Quarter Profit

Largely on XBox, cloud

Microsoft investors have a reason to smile this afternoon, even though there's no word yet on a replacement for current CEO Steve Ballmer.

In its latest earnings report, Microsoft reported a record second quarter profit of $6.56 billion (78 cents per share), up 2.8 percent from the same period last year. That far surpassed Wall Street's expectations of 68 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters data. Total revenues rose 14 percent to $24.5 billion, which also topped analyst expectations.