Microsoft (MSFT) was successful almost across the board with its various units, as the company posted a first-quarter profit for its fiscal year of $4.29 billion, equal to 45 cents a share. That is a huge growth from its $3.48 billion, or 35 cents a share last year.
The numbers exploded past analysts' expectations, as they had projected a profit at 39 cents a share. Six cents a share is a huge and impressive number when talking of projections and exceeding them.
For the fiscal first-quarter, which ended on September 30, the company grew by 23 percent over last year.
Overall revenue increased by 27 percent, to reach $13.76 billion, up big from last years $10.81 billion. That also exceeded analysts' expectations by a large amount, with projections at $12.57 billion.
Not surprisingly, the two biggest producers for the quarter were the Office 2007 software suite, which brought in $4.11 billion, while its Windows Vista operating system added another $4.14 billion in revenue for the quarter.
The online advertising unit was one of the company's poorer performers, ending with a loss of $264 million. That's probably one of the key motivators in their acquiring a stake in Facebook recently.
Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft, was ecstatic about the results, saying, “Backed by an amazing product line-up, our sales force, marketing teams, and partners delivered another excellent quarter.”
Microsoft also offered some guidance for the next quarter, as they said they should have second quarter earnings between 44 and 46 a share, based on revenue from $15.6 billion to $16.1 billion.
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