When it comes to cloud computing, Amazon Web Services is the undisputed leader, but many in the tech industry were surprised by the continued strong showing by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which jumped into second place and is gaining on the leader. Solid results over the past several quarters have helped the tech giant's stock gain 27% so far this year, nearly eight times the performance of the S&P 500.Investors will be watching several areas of the company's business when Microsoft reports the financial results of its fiscal first quarter after the market close on Oct.