Sales of Office 2010 to businesses buoyed the results, as did the popularity of Kinect, Microsoft's new motion-sensing controller for the Xbox 360 video game system.

The results for October through December leaked online more than an hour before they should have been released, prompting a temporary spike in trading before the markets closed. After investors had time to digest the full report, however, it became clear that a solid quarter isn't enough to give the company's shares more than a temporary lift. Companies carefully time the release of key financial information to comply with complex Securities and Exchanges Commission rules.

Much of Microsoft's business depends on selling copies of the Windows operating system and Office desktop software, both of which are tied to the health of the personal computer market.

Revenue in the Windows division plunged 30 percent to $5.1 billion. Microsoft launched Windows 7 in the same quarter of 2009, making for a tough comparison. Meanwhile, in the 2010 quarter, worldwide personal computer shipments only grew about 3 percent as Apple Inc.'s iPad and the promise of more tablet devices to come made consumers think twice about what kind of device to buy.