Microsoft shares touched all-time high in after-hours trading on 20 October, after the software giant posted better-than-expected first quarter results.

Net profit rose 6% from a year earlier to $6bn (£4.9bn) for the three months to 30 September, with adjusted earnings coming in at $22.3bn (£18.22bn).

Analysts had forecast revenue to come in at $21.7bn (£17.73bn).

The rise in profits was helped by an 8% jump in cloud revenue to $6.4bn (£5.23bn), with the firm reporting that the use of its Azure cloud computing platform had more than doubled since last year.

The news sent Microsoft shares 6% higher to $60.73 (£49.64) in New York, overtaking its previous peak of $59.97 (£49.02) in 1999 during the dot-com boom.

Amy Hood, chief financial officer at Microsoft said, “Our first quarter results showed continued demand for our cloud-based services”.

“We continue to invest, position ourselves for long-term growth, and execute well across our businesses.”