Microsoft Revenue Up, Profit Down 24%

By Nate Mook | Published July 20, 2006, 4:57 PM

Microsoft on Thursday reported record fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $11.80 billion, a 16 percent increase over last year. However, the Redmond company's net income was only $2.83 billion for the quarter, a 24 percent decrease largely attributable to mounting legal expenses.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, Microsoft reported annual revenue of $44.28 billion -- 11 percent higher than the previous year. Annual profit was $12.60 billion, up from $12.12 billion. Legal costs of $1.11 billion were lower than the previous year's $2.06 billion.

The bump in quarterly revenue was helped by Microsoft's video game business, which doubled its revenues to $1.14 billion from the previous year. The company attributed the increase to resolving supply problems with the Xbox 360 console. 1.8 million Xbox 360 units shipped in the fourth quarter.

“Our upcoming launches of Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and other key products position us to continue to deliver strong revenue growth in fiscal year 2007," said Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell. "We are also very pleased that both the Microsoft Business Solutions and the Mobile and Embedded Devices businesses achieved profitability for the full fiscal year."

Microsoft also announced on Thursday plans to buy back $20 billion of company shares at a price not greater than $24.75 and not less than $22.50. This would account for 8.1% of outstanding Microsoft common stock. Another $20 billion stock repurchase will be ongoing until June 30, 2011; the company has completed a previous $30 billion repurchase program.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

...

While not a Microsoft-hater, neither is
the PC Rat a shill for Redmond like, say,
PC_Fool.

Microsoft got itself into this mess by it's
bad judgment ...if not illegal behavior.

Hopefully, Gates & Co. have learned
something here.

They need to be part of the computer-
community (albeit an ~important~ part)
and cease trying exploit both competitors
and consumers alike.

This really being in their own economic
interest. ( And they'll spend less time
in court, too ! )

Then, Microsoft needs to get out of
the 'promise business' and get into
the 'results business'.

Less announcements and more products !

...

The Computer Rodent

...

Score: 0

|

They need to be part of the computer-
community

Given the tone of the rest of your post, it seems to suggest you think being successfully closed source should be a crime.

Score: 0

|

...

"it seems to suggest you
think being successfully
closed source should be
a crime"

...

Talking about jumping to conclusions !

The PC Rat thinks open source is a fad.

Closed source ~isn't~ your favorite rodent's
problem with Microsoft in principal.

But -like anything- it can be misused.

Microsoft doesn't need to give away the farm
to share enough for interoperability. That
would strengthen MS rather than weaken them.

And attempts to use closed source to takeover
vertical markets is only going to land them in
court !

So, yeah, closed source is great. But there's
such a thing as "enlightened self-interest".

...

The Computer Rodent

...

Score: 0

|

"The PC Rat is a fad.

Score: 0

|

OOOOOOOOOOOOPS!

big ooops for Microsoftie.

(especially because Apple just had record profits)

Score: 0

|

AGREED! Microsoft is losing profits because they have no edge anymore. Users are fed up with the lack of features and the extremely buggy OS. Their management has gotten so bloated and full of red tape that they cannot be flexible enough for the changing market.

yeah, oops is right!

Score: 0

|

cause we all know the article didn't state the actually reason they are losing profits, they saved you the trouble of guessing.

Score: 0

|

Yeah, they are in big trouble! How can they survive on 2.83 BILLION profit for the quarter!!??

What a joke.

Score: 0

|

quit b****ing already, you have nothing better to do then complain about microsoft?

Score: 0

|

You have nothing better to do than kiss microsoft's azz?

Think for youself, not what others tell you.

Score: 0

|

Think for youself, not what others tell you.
Hahaha, right back at ya

Score: 0

|

This is a good story I especially like the part where they had over a billion in legal expenses. It's sad but if Microsoft wasn't so successful with windows they would of been sued into oblivion. No other company out there could withstand billions of dollars in legal expenses, in fact I don't think any other company has. They must have a record for that, year after year billions of dollars in lost "profit" because they can't compete fairly. What a sad sad story. It's a good thing MS has a large bank account, because without it they will be sitting ducks. I have no doubt in another 20 years something catastrophic is going to happen to them. I am guessing a break up will be in order. It's obvious someone got paid off to keep it from happening.

So thank god for the legal system huh? It costs some money but, you sure can buy your way out of trouble.

Score: 0

|

Does this mean Steve Ballmer doesn't get his ivory back scratcher? :)

Score: 0

|

Of course profit is down, Windows is outdated... When vista goes live - profit will explode.

Score: 0

|

Vista? LOL! ...you mean Windows XP SP3.

Score: 0

|

Have you actually used Vista yet?

Score: 0

|

No, sorry, charging for service packs only happens in your Mac world.

Score: 0

|

Ahah!

Score: 0

|

My thoughts on some issues...

1) Windows Firewall is a joke. I still can't believe that they went with a firewall for xp that does inbound but not outbound filtering . :S

2) Windows Update should have the ability to update firewall rull sets to prevent spamming trojans ect. This of course would have to be done so by user approval. So if the user has no clue about security, a nice fancy wizard could walk them through and select security levels or what ever you wanna call it.

3) Service pack needed for Office, or switch to OpenOffice.

4) Service pack needed for XP. Start user on a limited account. Use RunAs.

I don't think these are unreasonable requests or major.

Score: 0

|

yay!! I want some of that dough! Aaah I can't wait for Vista...

Score: 0

|

Im right along with ya on that.

Score: 0

|

Will Firefox beat IE9 to Direct2D rendering?

Just days after Microsoft executives gave conference attendees a peek at a new rendering technology, a Mozilla contributor revealed he's working on the same thing.

AOL's decision to rebrand as Aol. takes a bad brand and makes it worse

The idea behind the social Web is to crowd source before bringing out something new. But not at AOL, which new logo debuted with a cry of "fail!" across the blogosphere and Twittersphere today.

Microsoft's Bob Muglia and Ray Ozzie on Silverlight vs. standards

Bob Muglia: "We're trying to provide people with an environment that has capabilities that you just simply can't do today in the standards-based world."

Uh-oh, netbooks -- not Windows 7 -- will lift 2009 PC sales

Santa may bring a lump of coal to the Windows PC industry this holiday season. Netbook sales will sap PC margins, while weak Windows 7 PC sales could further drive down average selling prices.

Kindle 2 update adds battery life, native PDF reader

Amazon has pushed out an update to the Kindle 2 e-reader that lengthens battery life and adds a native PDF viewer.

Safari on iPhone gets competition from a $1 browser app

Apple likes to say it gives iPhone users a full browsing experience, but a new competitor tries to incorporate more desktop browser features.

Action Replay maker sues Microsoft for Xbox 360 'predatory technological barriers'

Third-party video game accessory maker Datel has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over the Xbox 360's recent Dashboard update.

Where there's smoke: Apple warranty stance raises troubling questions

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Smoking can be dangerous not only for your lungs, it appears, but for your Apple hardware warranty.

Microsoft's .NET Micro Framework is now free and open source

The latest version of Microsoft's .NET Micro framework is now in the hands of the FOSS community.

Google's value proposition for Chrome OS: Should we feel insulted?

For a search engine that has direct access to all the world's online history, it appears to have taught Google nothing about selling a machine.

E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season

E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?