Microsoft Earnings: Breaks A Good Revenue Streak

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported its results for the first quarter. Microsoft develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products and services for a variety of computing devices.

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Microsoft Corporation Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the computer software fell to $4.47 billion (53 cents per share) vs. $5.74 billion (68 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 22.2% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Fell 7.9% to $16.01 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Microsoft Corporation fell short of the mean analyst estimate of 65 cents per share. It fell short of the average revenue estimate of $18.11 billion.

Quoting Management: “The launch of Windows eight is the beginning of a new era at Microsoft,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “Investments we’ve made over a number of years are now coming together to create a future of exceptional devices and services, with tremendous opportunity for our customers, developers, and partners.”

Key Stats:

A year-over-year revenue decrease last quarter snaps a streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. The best quarter in that span was the first quarter of the last fiscal year, which saw revenue rise 7.3%.

The company fell short of forecasts after beating estimates in the previous two quarters. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, it topped the mark by 10 cents, and in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, it was ahead by 3 cents.

The company reported a profit last quarter after being in the red the prior quarter. In the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the company booked a net loss of $5.11 billion, or a loss of 60 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the second quarter has moved up from 87 cents a share to 89 cents over the last sixty days. The average estimate for the fiscal year is $3.07 per share, a rise from $3.05 ninety days ago.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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