Microsoft Q4 profit up slightly despite Xbox charge
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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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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 posted a record $16.4 billion in revenue during the company's second business quarter, shattering its previous record by $2 billion. The software giant also blew away Wall Street expectations by recording a 92 percent rise in quarterly earnings in comparison with the year-earlier period.
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The online retailerâs revenue was up 42 percent in its fourth quarter and its profits more than doubled, but its profit margins were lower.
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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 video game consoles.
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The health care products maker posted higher profit in the fourth quarter versus year-earlier results that were reduced by acquisition charges for Kos Pharmaceuticals.
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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Microsoft said Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose 11 percent from a year earlier as client software sales, server revenue and Xbox sales all rose.
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Microsoft said last week that its first-quarter net income rose 11% and revenue 12% because of strong server-software demand and steady sales of PCs that run its products.
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Microsoft said Thursday its profit for the just-ended quarter rose 11 percent from a year ago to 3.03 billion dollars, boosted by the new Windows Vista operating system and the new Office software suite.
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The online retailerâs revenue was up 42 percent in its fourth quarter and its profits more than doubled, but its  profit margins were lower.
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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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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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Bed Bath &amp; Beyond Inc.  on  Wednesday said quarterly income rose slightly, meeting Wall  Street estimates, as strong sales at established stores offset  costs for stock-based compensation.
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Microsoft said Thursday that it had surpassed $50 billion in annual revenue, while saying quarterly profits were up seven percent on brisk Vista sales.
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Johnson Controls Inc. on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profit rose 25 percent, helped by a lower tax rate and decreased miscellaneous net expenses.
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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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Microsoft, the world's largest maker of computer software,  reports an 11% rise in  quarterly profit but says sales may disappoint in the current period.