Microsoft’s Q3 profit climbs as PC market tumbles
Expectations were high ahead of Microsoft’s fiscal third-quarter earnings report on Thursday. The PC industry saw a devastating decline in the March quarter but while its vendor partners took a big hit thanks to lackluster Windows 8 demand, industry watchers still saw Microsoft’s profit climbing 13.3% thanks to strong software sales. According to a Thomson Reuters poll of Wall Street analysts, Microsoft was expected to report earnings of $0.68 pre share, or $5.78 billion, on $20.51 billion in revenue. The numbers are now in and Microsoft bucked the PC sales trend while handily beat estimates, posting a profit of $0.72 per share, or $7.61 billion, on $20.5 billion in sales.
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In the same quarter last year, Microsoft earned $0.60 per share, or $5.11 billion, on revenue totaling $17.41 billion.
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The company’s Windows division racked up sales totaling $5.70 billion in the March quarter, up 23% from the same quarter last year, and its business division grew 8% year-on-year to $6.32 billion.
Microsoft noted in its report that CFO Peter Klein is leaving the company at the end of the current fiscal year, and the company intends to name a successor in the coming weeks.
“I’ve had a great experience as CFO and overall in my time at Microsoft,” Klein said in a prepared statement. “We have an incredibly strong finance organization, and I’m looking forward to working with my successor on the transition through the end of the fiscal year.”
This article was originally published on BGR.com
