Microsoft Beats Earnings Expectations
The corporate PC upgrade cycle has been kind to Microsoft.
Microsoft reported earnings for its fourth quarter this afternoon and they were solid, beating expectations on profits that rose 30 percent. Earnings per share were 69 cents, up from 51 cents a share in the same period last year. Revenue for the period rose eight percent to $17.4 billion. The Street had expected the company to turn in a profit of 58 cents a share on revenue of $17.23 billion.
For fiscal 2011, Microsoft reported earnings of $23.15 billion, or $2.69 a share, on revenue of $69.94 billion. That’s up 12 percent from a year ago.
While Windows and Windows Live Division revenue was down 1 percent for the fourth quarter and revenue for the full year decreased 2 percent, the company’s other divisions showed some nice growth.
- Revenue at the company’s business unit, which includes Microsoft Office, rose to $5.78 billion from $5.38 billion.
- Revenue at its Entertainment and Devices Division rose 30 percent to $1.49 billion.
- Revenue at its Server and Tools unit rose 12 percent to $4.64 billion.
- Finally, revenue at Microsoft’s money-losing online services division rose 17 percent to $662, though it did post a wider loss of $728 million.
“We continue to see strong business demand across all of our products,” Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said in a statement.