Fred Business News- Software giant Microsoft Corp. announced its fiscal third-quarter earnings Thursday, posting a quarterly profit that beat expectations thanks to strong sales of server software and Xbox 360 game consoles.
Microsoft also offered fiscal 2009 guidance that topped Wall Street's estimates.
Microsoft's net income fell to $4.4 billion, or 47 cents per share, down 11% from year ago results. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for 44 cents per share.
Sales rose negligibly to $14.5 billion, roughly meeting analysts' forecasts.
But Microsoft faced tough comparisons with a year ago -- when the company recognized revenue and profits it deferred due to the delayed release of its
The company gave mixed guidance for its fourth quarter, however, saying that it expects sales to be between $15.5 billion and $15.8 billion for the quarter ending in June. Wall Street was expecting sales of $15.6 billion. Microsoft also said it anticipated earnings to be in a range of 45 cents to 48 cents a share, compared to consensus estimates of 48 cents a share.
Microsoft's fiscal 2009 forecast was better than what analysts were expecting though. The company said sales should be in a range of $66.9 billion to $68 billion and that earnings would be between $2.13 and $2.19 a share. Wall Street was forecasting sales of $66.5 billion and earnings per share of $2.10.
"[This] is an outstanding achievement given the current economic situation," said Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell in a conference call with analysts.
Source: Cnn.com
About Fred: Fred is president of The I Team Organization. With a back ground in agriculture Fred has lead many successful business ventures.
