Microsoft earnings beat forecasts

Microsoft Corp. on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $5.86 billion.

The Redmond, Washington-based company said it had profit of 71 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for pretax expenses and restructuring costs, came to 77 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 70 cents per share.

The software maker posted revenue of $26.47 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Analysts expected $26.06 billion, according to Zacks.

Microsoft shares have risen slightly more than 1 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has stayed nearly flat. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $47.04, a climb of 28 percent in the last 12 months.