Microsoft today announced third-quarter profit rose 35 per cent as companies stepped up spending on computers running the new version of the Windows operating system.
Third-quarter net income at the software manufacturer rose to $4.01 billion, or 45 cents a share, beating the 42 cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue increased 6.3 per cent to $14.5 billion, the company said today in a statement.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, said operating expenses for the year ending June 30th will be $26.1 billion to $26.3 billion, compared with a January prediction of $26.2 billion to $26.5 billion. Microsoft no longer provides forecasts for sales and profit.
Deferred revenue, a measure of multi-year contracts, was $12.3 billion, below some analysts' predictions. Analysts had projected total sales of $14.4 billion for the last quarter, which ended March 31st. A year earlier, net income was $2.98 billion, or 33 cents a share, on sales of $13.6 billion. Net income in that period included severance costs and impairments to investments.
Microsoft rose 6 cents to $31.39 at 4pm New York time on the Nasdaq. The stock fell 3.9 percent last quarter, while the Standard and Poor's 500 Index rose 4.9 percent.
In the second quarter, Microsoft beat analysts' estimates for profit by 15 cents a year.
Bloomberg