The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was down 0.41% at 12:30 p.m. EST Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak in China continued to escalate. Strong earnings reports from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) weren't enough to put the Dow in positive territory.
Microsoft produced double-digit revenue and earnings growth thanks to its rapidly growing cloud business, while Coca-Cola enjoyed strong organic growth and guided for more of the same in 2020.
Microsoft's cloud-based businesses are showing no signs of slowing down. The software giant's fiscal second-quarter results beat analyst expectations across the board, with revenue getting a boost from the subscription-based Office 365 and Azure. Microsoft stock was up 2.2% by early afternoon.