Microsoft’s Profit Dips Less Than Projected
By NICK WINGFIELD APRIL 24, 2014
Satya Nadella, Microsoft's new chief, holding up a Nokia Lumia smartphone featuring the Windows mobile operating system. CreditRobert Galbraith/Reuters
EATTLE — Microsoft again demonstrated its gift for weathering the turmoil in the personal computer industry, turning in solid financial results for a company in the process of playing catch-up in several important markets.
But the attention of investors seems to be less on how much Microsoft has recently made and more on a series of bold bets to reshape the company. The latest of those bets is set to take a critical step forward on Friday when Microsoft completes its $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s handset business.
The deal is by far the riskiest in Microsoft’s 39-year history, turning hardware — formerly a side business at Microsoft — into a far more integral part of the company. Overnight, the acquisition will expand the company’s work force by nearly a third, as 30,000 Nokia employees will fall under Microsoft, creating logistical challenges on a level it has not faced before.
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APRIL 23, 2014 Microsoft said its net income for the three months ending March 31 — the company’s fiscal third quarter — was $5.66 billion, or 68 cents a share, compared with net income of $6.06 billion, or 72 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue dipped slightly to $20.4 billion from $20.49 billion.
The declines were partly the result of a $1.66 billion lift from deferred revenue in the comparable quarter last year, which was related to promotional offers it extended to customers buying new versions of Windows, Office and other products. Without that money, Microsoft’s revenue grew 8 percent and its net income grew 5 percent.
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