Jan 30, 2017 08:30 AM EST By Ava Jones, UniversityHerald Reporter

Microsoft Corp just reached its $500 billion milestone; a feat for a 17 year old company. It's the first time since 2000 beating Wall Street expectations. Shares rose to 2.1 percent, now valued at $65.64 each, which is an all-time high in early trading.

What Microsoft Did Right To Reach This Milestone

Satya Nadella, Microsoft Corp's Chief Executive, put the life back to the company ever since he took over. He helped build credibility backed to the company, especially in cloud-related services. Microsoft Corp was worth only $315 billion when he took over in 2014 and although it took a while for the company to gain its ground again, it's now making an important shift.

Moreover, the $500 billion company that is today is not the same as the $500 billion company that the world saw before. Microsoft Corp was PC-centric before. But investors started to pay attention and liked what they saw in 2016 and they are betting on the tech giant because of its cloud computing business, The Motley Fool reported.

While its acquisition of LinkedIn last year was a big headliner, Microsoft Corp's rapid growth of cloud business is the main reason why investors are jumping onboard. If the company desires to keep things moving on track with their cloud services, they better replace legacy software revenue with the cloud's fast enough so that they wouldn't be affected by decline of sales.

Microsoft Corp Worth $500 Billion Again 17 Years Later

The last time that the company was valued more was in the year 2000, which is considered the heyday of the dotcom era. But this year's milestone although a big feat for any company, did not really overcome $550 billion that it made back in 2000. Today the company is valued at $510.37 billion.

Nevertheless, it's because of the right things that Microsoft Corp did over the past year that made it reach the $500 billion mark again, Reuters reported. Microsoft Corp defied all odds and even analysts' average estimates on the company's profit and revenue.

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