Microsoft profit drops, but not as much as expected
Written on April 25, 2009
Microsoft Corp. reported a smaller drop in third-quarter profit than some investors anticipated and is predicting bigger cost savings this year.
Net income fell to $2.98 billion, or 33 cents a share. Excluding some costs, earnings were 39 cents, matching the estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The shares had dropped 3.8 percent in the past two weeks on concern that profit would fall short.
Microsoft reaffirmed plans to eliminate as many as 5,000 jobs by the middle of 2010, with the goal of saving $1.5 billion annually. Microsoft said it may reduce expenses more than predicted earlier, to as low as $26 paperless payday loans.7 billion in the year ending in June.
"It’s been a huge issue to people that these guys hadn’t been willing to cut enough costs," said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore.
The cost savings helped Microsoft overcome the first revenue decline since the company went public in 1986. Sales fell 5.6 percent to $13.6 billion. That missed the $14.1 billion estimated by analysts.
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