Microsoft and Alphabet earnings show signs of resilience

Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet’s core businesses held up better than expected in the past quarter, pushing their shares higher and giving a bump to rival tech companies due to report earnings later this week.

Revenues at Microsoft’s cloud division climbed 16 per cent in the first three months of 2023, a faster than expected rate that dispelled fears of a sharp slowdown in spending by their corporate clients following a boom for digital services amid Covid-19.