Microsoft Reaches Trillion-Dollar Valuation

Technology giant Microsoft is rising to new heights. After reporting strong earnings results last week, the company reached a valuation above $1 trillion for a period of time.

This happened by way of Microsoft's share price jumping as a result of the positive earnings report, which in turn pushed the company's total market valuation to above $1 trillion for the first time ever. Share prices later dropped, decreasing the overall valuation to around $995 billion. Apple and Amazon are the only other companies to ever reach a $1 trillion market valuation based on share prices. They have also retreated. Microsoft's $995.4 billion market valuation currently is ahead of Apple ($973.2 billion) and Amazon ($942.8 billion). Stock prices are constantly changing based on a variety of factors.

What propelled Microsoft's share price to climb was likely the strong third-quarter earnings results it announced last week. Microsoft's revenue jumped 14 percent to $30.6 billion, while net income rose a healthy 19 percent to $8.8 billion. Yes, that's $8.8 billion in profit for three months.

As GameSpot sister site ZDnet reminds us, Alphabet (which owns Google) is now the only remaining member of "The Big Four" to reach a $1 trillion market cap.

Microsoft's earnings report also provided some insight into the health of the Xbox division. While Xbox One console sales are down (just like PS4 sales are), total gaming revenue at Microsoft jumped by 5 percent. This uptick in revenue was driven by Xbox game sales and services, which rose by 12 percent.

Microsoft just announced a new disc-free Xbox One, but that's not the only console the company has in the works. At least one next-generation console might be announced at E3 2019 in June, so keep checking back for more.