Microsoft Reports $US6.56bn Profit

[Turk]

This story was published: 2 hours ago January 24, 2014 9:15AM
MICROSOFT Corp has reported revenue and earnings for its fiscal second quarter that have topped Wall Street expectations.

The company sold 3.9 million Xbox One consoles to retailers and doubled revenue from its line of Surface tablets from a quarter earlier.

Net income in the quarter through December climbed to $US6.56 billion ($A7.43 billion), or 78 US cents per share, from $US6.38 billion, or 76 US cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 14 per cent to $US24.52 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 68 US cents per share on revenue of $US23.67 billion.

Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer said the company had a "great holiday quarter".

Surface revenue rose to $US893 million in the quarter, up from $US400 million in the three months through September.

The company appeared to withstand a steep decline in personal computer sales, which research firm Gartner pegged at a 7 per cent decline worldwide in the December quarter and IDC put at 6 per cent.

Microsoft said revenue from its flagship operating system fell just 3 per cent, reflecting a 12 per cent gain from PCs that its partners sold to enterprises.

Windows revenue from consumer purchases fell.

Overall, revenue from its devices and consumer segment grew 13 per cent to $US11.91 billion, while revenue from commercial products like server operating systems and cloud computing services grew 10 per cent to $US12.67 billion.

Shares rose $US1.66, or 4.6 per cent, to $US37.74 in after-hours trading on Thursday following the release of the results.

Earlier, the stock closed the regular session up 15 US cents at $US36.08.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/microsoft-reports-us656bn-profit/story-e6frfkur-1226809260843