n what is typically a slow quarter, Microsoft's sales and earnings for its first quarter of fiscal 2011, which closed Sept. 30, blew the doors off even the most optimistic analysts' projections on Thursday.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced it brought in $16.2 billion in revenues for the period covering July through September. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been $15.81 billion for the quarter. That was up 25 percent over the same quarter last year.
The same was true across the board. Analysts' estimates had pegged earnings per share at $0.55. Instead, Microsoft said it brought in EPS of $0.62 -- a 55 percent jump over fiscal 2010's first quarter.
"Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion," Peter Klein, Microsoft's CFO, said in a statement.
Operating income came in at $7.12 billion for the quarter, while net income hit $5.41 billion. Those figures constituted 59 percent and 51 percent gains over the same quarter the previous year.
However, the previous year's quarterly numbers were held down by deferral of $1.47 billion held out to cover expenses around Windows 7's Upgrade Option program as well as early sales of the system to OEMs and retailers in advance of Windows 7's consumer launch on Oct. 22 last year.
With that figured in, EPS was diluted by $0.12, bringing net income down to 16 percent growth, and EPS to 19 percent growth, the company said.
Microsoft officials credited much of the growth to the continuing ramp up of Windows 7 sales to enterprise customers, strong corporate demand for Office 2010, which launched last spring, and continued strong sales of Xbox 360 consoles and games.
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/en...Blows-the-Doors-off-Analysts-3Q-Estimates.htm
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced it brought in $16.2 billion in revenues for the period covering July through September. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been $15.81 billion for the quarter. That was up 25 percent over the same quarter last year.
The same was true across the board. Analysts' estimates had pegged earnings per share at $0.55. Instead, Microsoft said it brought in EPS of $0.62 -- a 55 percent jump over fiscal 2010's first quarter.
"Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion," Peter Klein, Microsoft's CFO, said in a statement.
Operating income came in at $7.12 billion for the quarter, while net income hit $5.41 billion. Those figures constituted 59 percent and 51 percent gains over the same quarter the previous year.
However, the previous year's quarterly numbers were held down by deferral of $1.47 billion held out to cover expenses around Windows 7's Upgrade Option program as well as early sales of the system to OEMs and retailers in advance of Windows 7's consumer launch on Oct. 22 last year.
With that figured in, EPS was diluted by $0.12, bringing net income down to 16 percent growth, and EPS to 19 percent growth, the company said.
Microsoft officials credited much of the growth to the continuing ramp up of Windows 7 sales to enterprise customers, strong corporate demand for Office 2010, which launched last spring, and continued strong sales of Xbox 360 consoles and games.
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/en...Blows-the-Doors-off-Analysts-3Q-Estimates.htm
