Microsoft likely to beat estimates, again
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
April 16, 1999, 3:30 p.m. PT
Microsoft is likely to beat estimates for the fiscal third quarter when it
reports earnings on Tuesday as the No. 1 software maker benefits from
price wars in the personal-computer industry.
Microsoft is widely expected to top by a penny or two the average forecast of
32 cents a share from analysts surveyed by First Call, for the quarter ended
March 31. That's up from 25 cents a year earlier. Revenue will rise to about
$4.3 billion, analysts said, from $3.77 billion a year earlier.
The software powerhouse, whose Windows 98 operating system runs 90
percent of the world's PCs, benefits from falling PC prices because they spur
demand while Microsoft holds steady its prices for software loaded onto the
machines. That insulation protected Microsoft from revenue shortfalls seen at
chipmaker Intel and computer maker Compaq Computer in the third quarter
as PC prices dropped to as low as $599 per machine.
"Price wars are good for Microsoft," said Mike Stanek, an analyst at Lehman
Brothers, who has a "buy" rating on the stock. "They get their bounty for each
box, regardless of what's being charged." |
