Microsoft Posts First Ever Quarterly Loss

Microsoft has posted its first quarterly loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $18.06 billion, primarily due to a failed acquisition of aQuantive, which ended up costing the software giant $6.2 billion. The charge led to a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter.

Other than the one time charge, Microsoft had a strong quarter, with revenue of $18.06 billion and a profit of $0.73 per share.

The financial results reflect the previously announced non-cash, non-tax-deductible income statement charge of $6.19 billion for the impairment of goodwill and the deferral of $540 million of revenue related to the Windows Upgrade Offer. Adjusting for these items, non-GAAP fourth quarter revenue, operating income, and earnings per share were $18.60 billion, $6.93 billion, and $0.73 per share, which represented increases of 7%, 12%, and 6%, respectively, over the prior year period.


Microsoft is predicted to have more strong quarters with the release of the Surface tablet, Microsoft Office 2013, and Windows 8.

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