Microsoft has beaten Wall Street expectations for the last three months of 2020 despite the pandemic raging through the US

The figures were powered by ongoing demand for its workplace software and cloud computing services as people worked from home.

The company reported fiscal second-quarter profit of 15.5 billion dollars (£11.28 billion), up 33% from the same period last year.

In a statement, chief executive Satya Nadella called it “the dawn of a second wave of digital transformation sweeping every company and every industry”.

Net income of 2.03 dollars per share beat Wall Street expectations.

The software maker posted revenue of 43.1 billion dollars (£31.37 billion) in the October-December period, up 17% from last year and also beating forecasts.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting Microsoft to earn 1.64 dollars per share on revenue of 40.2 billion dollars (£29.26 billion) for the fiscal quarter ending in December.