Halo 3 Helps Microsoft to Higher Profit
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Microsoft said yesterday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 23 percent on brisk sales of the new Halo 3 video game, Windows and Office.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O, the world's  largest software maker, on Thursday said its first quarter  profit climbed as personal computer sales and business demand  fueled higher sales.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its full-year estimates and posted a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, topping investor expectations on strong demand for "Halo 3" and Windows Vista, and sending its shares up 11 percent.
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Demand for the Vista Windows system and other products helps Microsoft to quarterly profits of $3.03bn, up 11% on last year.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.Oon Thursday  said its quarterly profit climbed as revenue rose 12 percent,  but its shares fell as investors failed to account for the  effect of the expensing of stock-based compensation in  assessing the earnings.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft managed to earn a slight profit for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter despite a billion-dollar-plus charge related to expenses the company incurred to fix faulty Xbox360 consoles. For the quarter that ended June 30, Microsoft reported net income of $3.04 billion compared to net income of $2.83 billion for the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.31, a number that took into account a previously announced charge related to extending warranties for its Xbox 360 console. Excluding that charge, EPS for the quarter was $0.39, in line with estimates from Thomson Financial analysts. Revenue for the quarter was up 13 percent at $13.37 billion, compared to revenue of $11.8 billion for the same period last year. In a statement, Microsoft attributed revenue growth to demand for its new client OS Windows Vista, as well as business products such as SQL Server and Windows Server. Microsoft's Visual Studio developer tools and Xbox360 consoles also did well in the quarter, the company said. Microsoft said earlier this month it would take an earnings charge of more than $1 billion for its fourth quarter related to expenses for expanding its warranty coverage to Xbox 360 customers who have a certain type of hardware failure, which required an "unacceptable" number of repairs to the consoles. Microsoft revenue also was up for the year and topped $50 billion for the first time. For the 2007 fiscal year ended June 30, revenue was $51.12 billion, a 15 percent increase over the prior year, when the company reported $44.28 billion. Diluted earnings per share for the year were $1.42, which includes $0.07 in charges for certain items. Excluding those charges, EPS for the year would have been $1.49, an increase of 17 percent over the prior year when the company also adjusted for certain items and reported EPS of $1.21. For the current quarter, which began July 1, Microsoft is expecting revenue in the range of $12.4 billion to $12.6 billion, with diluted EPS in the range of $0.38 to $0.40. For fiscal-year 2008, which will end June 30, 2008, revenue is expected to be in the range of $56.8 billion to $57.8 billion, and diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.69 to $1.73. However, Microsoft noted its guidance does not include the as-yet-undetermined impact of costs associated withÂ the company's acquisition of aQuantive, which is expected to close in the current quarter. Microsoft announced in May that it would purchase the digital advertising and marketing services agency.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its full-year forecasts and posted 23 percent quarterly profit growth on Thursday, topping analysts' estimates on strong sales of "Halo 3" and Vista, and sending its shares up 11 percent.
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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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YESTERDAY Close $31.51 Change +$0.59 52-WEEK High $31.84 Low $22.72 Microsoft Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit edged up 7 percent despite a hefty charge to cover the cost of defective Xbox 360 video game consoles.
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Personal income, boosted by a large dividend payment from computer software giant Microsoft Corp., shot up by a record 3.7 percent in December.
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Microsoft Corp. , the world's largest software maker, on Thursday said its first quarter profit climbed as personal computer sales and business demand fueled higher sales.
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Strong sales of new and old products alike led Microsoft to its fastest first-quarter growth in eight 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.
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Microsoft sees quarterly profits rise 23% following demand for its Halo 3 video game and Windows operating system.
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Microsoft is counting on the biggest weapon in its video-game arsenal, Halo 3, to boost the Xbox 360&#39;s fortunes after the company&#39;s warranty problems.  At the company&#39;s event Tuesday on the eve of the E3 video game industry convention, Bungie Studios showed the first live footage from the second sequel in the best-selling sci-fi combat series. Halo 3, which arrives in stores Sept. 25, will come in three flavors: a $60 standard edition; $70 for a limited edition with a bonus making-of disc and art book; and $130 for a limited &quot;Legendary&quot; edition that comes in a Spartan military helmet case.
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Microsoft is hoping "Halo 3" will boost Xbox sales enough to knock Sony's PS3 down for good.
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Sales of the Xbox 360 nearly doubled in September in the United States thanks to Halo 3, while the Nintendo Wii continue to post impressive sales numbers.
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Citing continued strength in the PC and server markets, Microsoft on Thursday reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and a 12 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter of its 2005 fiscal year.