Microsoft Quarterly Profit Up 79 Percent
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Microsoft said its fiscal second-quarter profit topped analystsâ expectations and climbed 79 percent, buoyed by rising sales of Windows-based personal computers.
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The world's biggest software company, Microsoft Corp, said that its first quarter profits swelled to 2.9 billion dollars as consumers and businesses pumped up demand for new computers.
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Strong sales of new and old products alike led Microsoft to its fastest first-quarter growth in seven years with the company reporting growth in all five business segments and both revenue and EPS (earnings per share) that beat analyst expectations.Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30 was up 27 percent at $13.76 billion compared to $10.81 billion a year ago, Microsoft said Thursday. Consensus estimates from Thomson First Call analysts were for the company to generate revenue of $12.57 billion. Microsoft&#39;s EPS for the quarter was $0.45, which also soundly beat Thomson First Call consensus estimate of $0.39. Net income for the quarter was $4.29 billion, a 23 percent increase over the $3.48 billion reported a year ago.At $5.92 billion, operating income for the quarter also had double-digit percentage growth: An increase of more than 25 percent over operating income reported for the same period last year of $4.47 billion.Microsoft&#39;s first quarter was buoyed by the highly anticipated launch of the Xbox 360 game Halo 3 on Sept. 25, just days before the quarter&#39;s close. In its first 24 hours on sale, the game brought in $170 million in sales; it became the fastest selling video game in history after being in the market for just a week and a half, according to the company.Strong performances from Microsoft&#39;s client, business, server and tools, and online divisions also contributed to revenue growth in the quarter. In particular, Microsoft said sales of its Windows Vista OS experienced double-digit growth through multi-year business contracts, and demand for Microsoft Office, Windows Server, and SQL Server was also high.Looking ahead, Microsoft said it expects to report revenue in the range of $15.6 billion to $16.1 billion for its second quarter, which ends Dec. 31. Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.1 billion, while diluted EPS are expected to be between $0.44 to $0.46 for the second quarter, the company said.For its fiscal year 2008, Microsoft expects revenue in the range of $58.8 billion to $59.7 billion and operating income in the range of $23.3 billion to $23.7 billion. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be between $1.78 and $1.81 for the fiscal year, the company said. These new numbers were increases in Microsoft&#39;s guidance for the year from previous forecasts of $56.8 billion to $57.8 billion in revenue and $1.69 and $1.73 in EPS for the year.On a conference call Thursday, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said the company raised its financial guidance for the year due to improved outlooks for Microsoft&#39;s client business, its server and tools operation, and the Microsoft Business division.Sales of Vista seem to be on an uptick, and the fact that many long-term contracts Microsoft has with enterprise customers were up for renewal during the quarter helped fuel some of the revenue growth for the OS. Liddell expects that although companies have signed up for Vista in their contracts, many won&#39;t adopt it until the arrival of Vista Service Pack 1, expected in the first calendar quarter of 2008.&quot;It&#39;s still early days&quot; for Vista adoption, he said.Though analysts on the call gave Microsoft kudos for the quarter, there was still criticism about the performance of Microsoft&#39;s Online Services Division (OSD), the home of Microsoft&#39;s search and online advertising business. Revenue for the division grew only 25 percent year over year despite the close during the quarter of&#160;Microsoft&#39;s $6 billion acquisition of digital services agency aQuantive, a company expected to fuel growth in online advertising revenue.Liddell acknowledged on the call that this kind of growth for OSD is &quot;acceptable, but not stellar,&quot; saying, &quot;we&#39;d like to see it higher.&quot;This story was updated on October 25, 2007
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Microsoft Corp  posted a 7  percent gain in net profit as demand for its Office software  and improved results from its online arm more than compensated  for a $1.1 billion charge to repair Xbox game consoles.
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Amid strong PC demand from consumers and businesses, Microsoft reported on Thursday quarterly revenue and earnings that topped the company&#39;s earlier expectations.
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Microsoft Corp.  on Thursday posted higher quarterly earnings as revenue rose 12 percent, but its shares fell after the world's largest software maker said current quarter sales would fall below Wall Street expectations.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its full-year estimates on Thursday after posting a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong demand for "Halo 3" and computers running its operating system, sending its shares up 12 percent.
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Microsoft reported Thursday that first-quarter net income rose 11% and revenue 12%, due to strong server-software demand and steady sales of PCs that run its products.
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Microsoft Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 11 percent, beating analysts' expectations, as the company benefited from stronger-than-expected computer and server shipments.
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Microsoft  signaled confidence to a rattled stock market by raising its full-year earnings outlook above Wall Street targets and reporting a 79 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday.
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Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said its quarterly profit climbed as revenue rose 12 percent, driven by demand for the company's core software products from businesses and higher sales of personal computers and servers.
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Microsoft's profits for the key Christmas trading quarter soar 79%, driven by strong computer sales.
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Microsoft Corp. said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter earnings more than doubled, beating Wall Street estimates with strong sales of server software and its Halo 2 video game.
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Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said its first quarter profit climbed as personal computer sales and business demand fueled higher sales.
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Microsoft Corp. has announced revenue of $9.19 billion for the quarter, a 12% increase over revenue of $8.22 billion for the same period in the prior year.
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The company reports improving fundamentals and posts a 79% increase in Q3 earnings.
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Microsoft reported surprisingly strong quarterly profits and sales growth in its core software products, sending its stock up 12 percent in after-hours trading.