Word: microsoft
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Microsoft (MSFT) just released earnings that were mediocre but not any worse than was expected. It said that the balance of the calendar year would not be much better. In stating that, it is taking a position that has been common among most big companies releasing earnings. Write off 2009. Wait until next year...
...Revenue for the company's fiscal third quarter, which ended on March 31, fell 6% to $13.65 billion. Operating income was $4.4 billion, so Microsoft's software businesses still produces tremendous margins. The company blamed the weakness in the global PC and server markets for most of its troubles. The only really good news Microsoft had is that the latest versions of its flagship product, called Windows 7, will launch on time next year. (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis...
...would be expected, Microsoft's largest business, its PC software operation, suffered a 15% decline in revenue to $3.4 billion. The division still made an operating profit of $2.5 billion. There are very few large businesses in the world with a margin that large. The company's server and tools division and business software operation had similarly impressive operating numbers...
...Most of the headlines about Microsoft are about how much it needs a deal with Yahoo! (YHOO) to bolster its online business. That may be true, but overall it is a tiny part of the world's largest software company. In the last quarter, Microsoft's online operation had modest revenue of $721 million, a drop of 15% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Yahoo! suffered a similar decline in its first quarter, so putting the two businesses together might not be as exciting a business prospect as most analysts believe...
...most of the years since the company was started in the late 1970s, Microsoft has grown rapidly. That is not going to happen anymore. It is too large and that makes it a captive of the economy. Microsoft is not going to outperform the trends in global technology spending by a great deal, and it will rarely do much worse. What will happen is that Microsoft will remain the dominant force in business, server, and PC software for years. The company's products are too ubiquitous and too well-designed to be easily replaced. Microsoft will have competition, but that...