Microsoft announces record Q3 earnings: $16.43 billion revenue, $5.23 billion net income

Well, it looks like the record quarters from tech companies just keep on coming -- this time it's Microsoft, which just reported $16.43 billion in revenue in its third-quarter results, a jump of 13 percent from the previous year, and well ahead of analysts' expectations. Net income clocked in at $5.23 billion, a whopping 31 percent increase from the previous year, with Microsoft citing strong sales of Office 2010, Xbox and Kinect as key driving factors. The company also reiterated that it's sold a staggering 350 million Windows 7 licenses so far, and said that its Entertainment & Devices Division has grown a full 60 percent year-over-year -- again, largely fueled by those record-setting sales of Kinect and continued strong sales of Xbox 360 consoles and Xbox Live.

As for Windows Phone, Microsoft unfortunately isn't providing much in the way of specifics -- on its earnings call, it only went as far as to say that "product reviews are good" and "customer satisfaction is high," and that developer interest has increased following its announcement of the Nokia partnership. It was unsurprisingly a bit more eager to divulge specifics for its gaming business, though, and revealed that it sold 2.4 million Kinect sensors in Q3, along with 2.7 million Xbox 360 consoles -- the latter of which is a new third quarter record for the company.

Show full PR text

Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Results

Strong enterprise and Xbox momentum drive revenue growth of 13% and earnings per share of $0.61.

REDMOND, Wash. - Apr. 28, 2011 - Microsoft Corp. today announced third-quarter revenue of $16.43 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2011, a 13% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.71 billion, $5.23 billion, and $0.61 per share, which represented increases of 10%, 31%, and 36%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share included a $0.05 tax benefit primarily related to an agreement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to settle a portion of their audit of tax years 2004 to 2006.

"We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our businesses," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "Consumers are purchasing Office 2010, Xbox and Kinect at tremendous rates, and businesses of all sizes are purchasing Microsoft platforms and applications."

Microsoft Business Division revenue grew 21% year-over-year. Since its release last spring, Office 2010 has become the fastest-selling version of Office in history, and the integrated innovation with SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and Dynamics CRM is driving significant growth for the division.

Server & Tools revenue grew 11% year-over-year, the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Strong business adoption of Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2, and System Center are driving record revenue and margin expansion.

Windows 7 remains the fastest selling operating system in history with 350 million licenses sold. Revenue for the segment was down 4% in the third quarter, in line with the PC trends, excluding prior year launch impact.

Online Services Division revenue grew 14% year-over-year primarily driven by increases in search revenue. Bing's US search share increased to 13.9% this quarter.

Entertainment & Devices Division grew 60% year-over-year, fueled by Kinect for Xbox 360, the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in history, continued strong Xbox 360 console sales and growth of Xbox Live.

"We delivered strong third quarter revenue from our business customers, driven by outstanding performance from Windows Server, SQL database, SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and increasingly our cloud services," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "Office had another huge quarter, again exceeding everyone's expectations, and the addition of Office 365 will make our cloud productivity solutions even more compelling. We continue to see strong adoption of our cloud-based services among the Fortune 500."

Business Outlook

Microsoft reaffirms operating expense guidance of $26.9 billion to $27.3 billion for the full year ending June 30, 2011. Microsoft also offers preliminary fiscal year 2012 operating expense guidance of 3% to 5% growth from the mid-point of fiscal year 2011 guidance, or $28.0 billion to $28.6 billion.

Webcast Details

Peter Klein, chief financial officer, Frank Brod, chief accounting officer, and Bill Koefoed, general manager of Investor Relations, will host a conference call and webcast at 2:30 p.m. PDT (5:30 p.m. EDT) today to discuss details of the company's performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The session may be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/investor. The webcast will be available for replay through the close of business on Apr. 28, 2012.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release that are "forward-looking statements" are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors such as:

•
execution and competitive risks in transitioning to cloud-based computing;
•
challenges to Microsoft's business model;
•
intense competition in all of Microsoft's markets;
•
Microsoft's continued ability to protect its intellectual property rights;
•
claims that Microsoft has infringed the intellectual property rights of others;
•
the possibility of unauthorized disclosure of significant portions of Microsoft's source code;
•
actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in Microsoft products that could reduce revenue or lead to liability;
•
improper disclosure of personal data could result in liability and harm to Microsoft's reputation;
•
outages and disruptions of services provided to customers directly or through third parties if Microsoft fails to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure;
•
government litigation and regulation affecting how Microsoft designs and markets its products;
•
Microsoft's ability to attract and retain talented employees;
•
delays in product development and related product release schedules;
•
significant business investments that may not gain customer acceptance and produce offsetting increases in revenue;
•
unfavorable changes in general economic conditions, disruption of our partner networks or sales channels, or the availability of credit that affect demand for Microsoft's products and services or the value of our investment portfolio;
•
adverse results in legal disputes;
•
unanticipated tax liabilities;
•
quality or supply problems in Microsoft's consumer hardware or other vertically integrated hardware and software products;
•
impairment of goodwill or amortizable intangible assets causing a charge to earnings;
•
exposure to increased economic and regulatory uncertainties from operating a global business;
•
geopolitical conditions, natural disaster, cyberattack or other catastrophic events disrupting Microsoft's business; and
•
acquisitions and joint ventures that adversely affect the business.
For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with Microsoft's business, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of Microsoft's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by contacting Microsoft's Investor Relations department at (800) 285-7772 or at Microsoft's Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor.

All information in this release is as of Apr. 28, 2011. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.