Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)
said Thursday its quarterly revenue
fell from the previous year for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company. The software giant's profit
fell more sharply than Wall Street was
expecting. Microsoft's EPS fell to 33 cents per share, down from 47 cents from the same quarter a year ago. Analysts had expected an EPS of 39 cents.
Sales of the company's Windows operating systems and business software, such as the Microsoft Office suite, are down due largely to a drop in PC shipments for the second consecutive quarter while consumers and businesses cut back on spending.
When reporting the company's previous quarter's earnings in January, Microsoft had
refused for the first time to provide any EPS guidance. Another first back then for the 34-year-old company: mass layoffs of 5,000 people. Microsoft will discuss the earnings Thursday. Perhaps CEO Steve Ballmer will comment on talks with Yahoo! Inc.'s (NASDAQ:YHOO) Carol Bartz. -
Mary Kathleen Flynn
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