Microsoft Shares Down More Than 2% After Revenue Miss

Shares of Microsoft Corp. fell late Thursday after the software company reported quarterly sales below Wall Street expectations. Microsoft said it earned $4.8 billion, or 61 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $3.8 billion, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $5.7 billion, or 73 cents a share, compared with $5 billion, or 63 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue was $22.1 billion, up from $20.5 billion in the fiscal third quarter of 2016. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report adjusted earnings of 70 cents a share on sales of $23.6 billion. "Our results this quarter reflect the trust customers are placing in the Microsoft Cloud," Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. The shares had ended the regular session up 0.7%