Microsoft CFO Peter Klein to Depart as Software Giant Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates (And Calms Critics for Now)
Microsoft said CFO Peter Klein “will leave the company at the end of the current fiscal year, after nearly four years in role and 11 years at the company,” adding that the software giant will be naming a new leader from its internal finance team in the next several weeks.
In addition, reporting its third-quarter results, the software giant said its revenue was just under $20.5 billion on earnings of 72 cents. Wall Street analysts were expecting Microsoft to earn 68 cents on just over $20.5 billion in revenue, compared to 60 cents on $17.4 billion in the same period a year ago.
Strong results in its Business, Entertainment and its Servers & Tools units, and even its Online Services division, were bright spots, even as its flagship Windows business was flat when adjusted for upgrade offers.
But flat is not down. Many investors have been worried about the results, focusing especially on the negative impact of declines in PC sales on its flagship Windows software and the slower uptake of Windows Phone and Surface tablet devices that the company has introduced.
It seems as if Microsoft has calmed those critics, at least for now. Shares were up about two percent in after-hours trading to $29.36.
“The bold bets we made on cloud services are paying off as people increasingly choose Microsoft services including Office 365, Windows Azure, Xbox LIVE, and Skype,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement. “While there is still work to do, we are optimistic that the bets we’ve made on Windows devices position us well for the long-term.”
Here are Microsoft’s financial docs on Q3 — Klein will be part of its conference call with analysts on the results at 2:30 pm PT (which I cannot cover today, but I wish the CFO a fond farewell):
