Microsoft Delivers On Earnings, The Long Road Ahead (MSFT)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) appears to be yet one more titan of tech that has managed to beat earnings. While its shares will likely never again see the former peak, the numbers were impressive at $0.69 EPS on $17.37 billion…
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As far as a breakdown, the net income was $5.87 billion after operating income of $6.17 billion. Sales of entertainment and devices was $1.49 billion, online services sales were $662 million, business revenues were $5.78 billion, server and tool revenues were $4.64 billion, and Windows (including Windows Live) brought in $4.74 billion.
Windows and Windows Live sales fell 1% for the fourth quarter and fell 2% for the year. The company said that would have been growth od 2% to 4% had it not been for “the impact of the prior year Windows 7 launch and revenue deferral.” Windows 7 has now sold over 400 million licenses and the company claims that business deployments continue to accelerate.
Online Services Division sales rose 17% for the quarter and 15% for the full year on gains in search revenue. Bing’s U.S. search share rose 340 basis points year-over-year to 14.4%.
The 2012 guidance is being offered as this was Microsoft’s year-end for operating expense growth of only about 3% to 5%. Until we have actual revenue and earnings guidance, Microsoft’s full impact from the report should be considered unfinished business.
Shares closed up $0.03 at $27.09 against a 52-week trading range of $23.32 to $29.46; shares are up about 2% at $27.66 in the after-hours reaction.
JON C. OGG
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.
