Microsoft profits down on slower sales, higher dollar

Microsoft Corp failed to hit its quarterly revenue forecasts because of stronger dollar and slower demand for cloud computing services.

Shares of Microsoft dipped about one percent in early trading, according to “Reuters”. The stock has lost about 2% year-to-date.

Microsoft is also under pressure from the strong dollar, as it gets about half of its revenue from outside the United States. This led the company to lower its earnings and revenue forecast for the fourth quarter in June.

The dollar index has risen more than 2 percent in the quarter ending in June and about 12 percent this year, compared to a decline of 1 percent in the same period last year.

Microsoft said ad revenue fell from LinkedIn, searches and news.

Revenue from the personal computing segment was $14.4 billion, compared to estimates of $14.68 billion.