Microsoft to Wall Street: Analyze This

John Paczkowski — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:15:03 +0000

Microsoft reported earnings for the first quarter of the company’s fiscal 2011 this afternoon, and they were record-breaking despite the pessimism of analysts who have been downgrading its stock lately.

Earnings per share were 62 cents on revenue of $16.2 billion, better than the 55 cents per share on $15.8 billion in revenue that analysts had been expecting. Net income spiked from $3.57 billion in the same quarter a year ago to $5.41 billion in the current one, bolstered by strong sales of Windows 7 and Office 2010. And pretty much all of the company’s divisions showed significant growth.

Revenue at Microsoft’s Windows division rose to $4.8 billion from $2.9 billion, with a profit of $3.3 billion.
Revenue at the company’s business unit, which includes Microsoft Office, rose to $5.1 billion from $4.5 billion. Profit was $3.4 billion.
Revenue at its Entertainment and Devices Division rose to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion. Profit was $382 million.
Finally, revenue at Microsoft’s money-losing online services division rose to $527 million from $487 million, though it did post a wider loss of $560 million.

“This was an exceptional quarter, combining solid enterprise growth and continued strong consumer demand for Office 2010, Windows 7 and Xbox 360 consoles and games,” Microsoft CFO Peter Klein said in a statement. “Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion.”

Report: Microsoft May or May Not Announce Layoffs

John Paczkowski — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:00:01 +0000

With the economy continuing to sour and consumer tech spending slowing, speculation is running rampant that Microsoft may soon join the sad conga line of tech companies announcing layoffs. According to an unsubstantiated, poorly sourced report currently making the rounds, Redmond is steeling itself for a massive Jan. 15 staff reduction–one that would affect some 15,000 employees–about 17 percent of Microsoft’s global workforce. Quite a deep cut–if it were to happen. Though there’s not much reason to believe it will. After all, the source of the report is a site whose name begins with FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). Microsoft (MSFT) has refused to comment on its claims. And, frankly, it’s difficult to see the company taking the scythe to 17 percent of worldwide operations–even in this lousy economy. “Unless Microsoft’s business has been absolutely crushed in the past two months, there is no reason for the company to suddenly cut this much cost,” writes Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget. “The only way we could see Microsoft laying off this many people is if the company decided to eliminate business units. And if Microsoft did decide to restructure its business, it would likely sell rather than shut down divisions.”

Over at Mini-Microsoft, the Redmond insiders who frequent the site’s comments are incredulous over the layoff rumors, insisting that they are baseless. Costs will be cut, they say, but they will be cut through attrition and reduction in open headcount. “For the last time folks–THERE ARE NO LAYOFFS HAPPENINGS IN JANUARY,” writes one Mini-Microsoft commenter. “Beyond Jan…well we dont have a crystal ball–but if the economy doesn’t improve and the company misses targets–it would get uglier for everyone–from no raises/no bonuses to (maybe) cutbacks/layoffs… but then, those are the rules of the game in corporate America.”

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Microsoft to Wall Street: Analyze This

Report: Microsoft May or May Not Announce Layoffs