REDMOND, Aug. 25 -- Microsoft reported that its earnings per share grew 32 per cent last year. It also reported that they grew 22 per cent. Both numbers are in the same document, both are correct, and the ten points between them are a stake in a private company that is also one of Microsoft's largest cloud customers.

The company does not hide this. It publishes the adjusted figure alongside the headline one and explains the reconciliation. What almost nobody does is read the second number, which is the one describing the software business.

Microsoft rose 0.93 per cent to $487.73 on Monday afternoon while the semiconductor index fell 2.32 per cent. The shares are 11.9 per cent below their 52-week high, which puts them in the middle of th...