Microsoft Posts Impressive Q1 Results

#1

RE: http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=20019

Microsoft reported $16.2B in revenue for Q1

Apple isn't the only tech company that can knock one out of the park when it comes to earnings reports. Microsoft just announced its first quarter results and things are looking pretty good for the fellas from Redmond.

Microsoft reported a 25 percent increase in revenue to $16.2 billion while operating income and net income were also up 59 percent and 51 percent to $7.12 billion and $5.41 billion respectively. Diluted earnings per share range in at $0.62 per share.

Microsoft has seen strong demand for its recently launched Office 2010 productivity suite and Windows 7 has been a strong performer ever since it was released just over a year ago. In addition, sales of Xbox 360 consoles grew by 38 percent to 2.8 million.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 division alone racked in $1.2 billion according to Gamasutra, with sales of Halo: Reach accounting for $350 million of that total.

“Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion," said Microsoft CFO Peter Klein.

“We are seeing improved business demand and adoption. Our enterprise agreement rates were strong, reflecting business commitment to Windows 7, Office 2010, and our server and database products,” added Kevin Turner, Microsoft COO. “Customer demand and excitement for our cloud and commercial online services continue to grow as demonstrated by major new customer wins this quarter for Windows Azure and by the significant customer interest in our recently announced Office 365 service.”

Microsoft should have plenty to look forward to in the next quarter, as it has a lot riding on its latest entry into the smartphone sector: Windows Phone 7.

This completely destroys the CNN article claiming that "Microsoft is a dying brand" here.