Microsoft Corp reported its first quarterly loss as a public company on Thursday as it took a previously announced hit for writing down the value of its ailing online unit, but held up better than expected in the face of stagnant computer sales.
Excluding the multibillion-dollar write-down, which was signalled earlier this month, and factoring in some deferred Windows revenue, the world's largest software company actually exceeded Wall Street's expectations, boosting its shares in after-market trading. After several years of stumbling behind mobile and Internet trailblazers Apple Inc and Google Inc, and a decade-long static share price, some expectation is building that Microsoft can re-establish itself as a tech leader with its new, touch-friendly Windows 8 system, due out on October 26, and an accompanying tablet of its own design.
The company reported a net loss of $492 million, or 6 cents per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $5.87 billion, or 69 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The loss was expected after Microsoft said earlier this month that it would take a $6.2 billion write-down for the value of its online unit after an ill-fated acquisition five years ago. Microsoft has not suffered a quarterly loss since going public in 1986.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $18 billion, helped by strong growth in its Office unit, but dampened by slowing computer sales featuring its flagship Windows operating system. Global PC sales, which have been stagnant for the last two years, fell 0.1 percent last quarter, according to tech research firms Gartner and IDC. Microsoft deferred $540 million of Windows revenue in the quarter due to an upgrade discount it is offering customers who buy machines running Windows 7 before the launch of Windows 8 in October.
Excluding the write-down, but factoring in that deferred revenue, Microsoft said it earned 67 cents per share in the quarter. On that basis, Wall Street expected profit of 62 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Quarterly sales, cut by the deferred Windows revenue, were slightly below analysts' average forecast of $18.1 billion. Excluding the deferred revenue, the company's flagship Windows unit posted only a 1 percent drop in sales, which was better than some analysts had expected in the uncertain economy.