Microsoft reports record revenue in fiscal Q2

Microsoft on Thursday announced its earnings for the second quarter of the companys 2011 fiscal year. In the quarter, which ended on December 31st, 2010, Microsoft saw record revenue of $19.95 billion, up from $19 billion in the same quarter last year. Operating income slid slightly, however, from $8.51 billion in the second quarter of Microsofts 2010 fiscal year to $8.17 billion last quarter. Diluted earnings per share were up to $0.77 compared to $0.74 in the same quarter a year prior. We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect, said Microsoft CFO Peter Klein in a statement. The 8 million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations. The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth. Microsoft also noted that its Business Division grew 24% year-over-year, and Office 2010 is the fastest-sellingversionof Microsoft Office in company history. Microsofts Entertainment & Devices Division grew 55% year-over-year on solid Xbox 360 console and accessory sales.Hit the break for Microsofts full press release.

Microsoft Reports Record $0.77 Earnings Per Share in Second Quarter

Holiday sales and business demand drive record revenue.

Redmond, Wash. Jan. 27, 2011 Microsoft Corp. today announced record second-quarter revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $8.17 billion, $6.63 billion and $0.77 per share, respectively.

Prior year results reflect the recognition of $1.71 billion of deferred revenue relating to the Windows! 7 Upgra de Option program and sales of Windows 7 before general availability in October 2009. Second-quarter growth rates for revenue and earnings per share were 5% and 4% respectively. Without the deferred recognition in the prior year, second-quarter growth rates for revenue and earnings per share were 15% and 28%, respectively.

(In millions, except per share amounts)Three months ended December 31,2010 As Reported (GAAP)2009 As Reported (GAAP)Deferred Revenue Recognition2009 As Adjusted
(Non-GAAP)Percentage
Change (GAAP)Percentage
Change (Non-GAAP)Revenue$19,953$19,022$1,711$17,3115%15%Operating Income$8,165$8,513$1,711$6,802-4%20%Diluted Earnings Per Share$ 0.77$ 0.74$0.14$ 0.604%28%

We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect. The 8 million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations, said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth.

Among the factors driving Microsofts record revenues and earnings per share was the 55% growth in revenue for the Entertainment & Devices Division, as the success of the Kinect sensor boosted sales of Xbox 360 consoles, Xbox Live subscriptions and Xbox games.

Microsoft Business Division revenue grew 24% year-over-year. Office 2010 is the fastest-selling consumer version of Office in history, with license sales over 50% ahead of Office 2007 over an equivalent period following launch.

Business demand for our productivity and infrastructure products and cloud solutions is strong. Office had a huge quarter, exceeding everyones expectations, and our roadmap for cloud productivity with Office 365 makes products like SharePoint, Exchange, Lync and Dynamics CRM even more attractive to our customers, said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. W! indows 7 continues to be the fastest-growing operating system in history, and our recent System on a Chip announcement demonstrates our commitment that Windows will have the power and flexibility to run everywhere and on every device.

Among the other product and business highlights Microsoft reported in the quarter:

• Microsoft announced it has now sold over 300 million Windows 7 licenses, and Windows 7 is now running on over 20% of Internet-connected PCs.
• Windows Phone 7 launched during the quarter in 30 countries and on 60 operators and nine different devices. Microsoft announced developers are adding Windows Phone 7 applications to the marketplace at a rate of over 100 per day.
• Bing completed the integration of Yahoo! search in the U.S. and Canada and continues to gain share.
• Windows Azure developer momentum continued this quarter, with Pixar Animation Studios, ADP with NVoicePay and others demonstrating compelling uses of the platform.
• Internet Explorer 9 is Microsofts fastest downloaded beta browser of all time with over 20 million downloads to date.
• At International CES 2011 in early January, Microsoft announced that the next version of Windows will support System on a Chip architectures.
• The company announced that during the quarter, it bought back $5 billion in stock and declared $1.3 billion in dividends.

Business Outlook

Microsoft reaffirms operating expense guidance of $26.9 billion to $27.3 billion for the full year ending June 30, 2011.

Webcast Details

Peter Klein, chief financial officer, Frank Brod, chief accounting officer, and Bill Koefoed, general manager of Investor Relations, will host a conference call and webcast at 2:30 p.m. PST (5:30 p.m. EST) today to discuss details of the companys performance for the quarter and certain forward-looking information. The session may be accessed athttp://www.microsoft.com/investor. The webcast will be available for replay through ! the clos e of business on Jan. 27, 2012.

Adjusted Financial Results and Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to financial results reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), we have provided certain non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the companys performance. For revenue, operating income and earnings per share growth we excluded the impact of deferred revenue recognized in the prior year fiscal quarter relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program and sales of Windows 7 before general availability in October 2009. Presenting these measures without the impact of this item gives additional insight into operational performance and helps clarify trends affecting the companys business. For comparability of reporting, management considers this information in conjunction with GAAP amounts in evaluating business performance. These non-GAAP financial measures provided should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

To aid comparability of prior results, we have also recast certain prior period amounts within our Form 10-Q that conforms to the way we internally managed and monitored segment performance during the current fiscal year. In addition to the reconciliation in this release, our supplementary earnings slide deck athttp://www.microsoft.com/investor contains a reconciliation of adjusted financial results and a reconciliation between reported and recast segment results.