Microsoft, Google Report Strong Quarterly Earnings

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 20 Jan 2012

On Thursday, the 19th of January, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft made public the financial results for its Q2 2012, the quarter that ended on the 31st of December 2011. The company reported record revenue of $20.89 billion, which is 5% better compared to the previous year’s quarter. Microsoft’s $20.89 billion quarterly revenue can be broken down as follows: operating income – $7.99 billion; net income – $6.62 billion; diluted earnings per share – $0.78per share.

Microsoft’s CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Peter Klein had the following to comment on the Q2 financial results:
“We saw strong demand for our business products and services, despite the soft PC market and continuing economic uncertainty in key parts of the world. We delivered record earnings per share by continuing to manage our costs while investing for future growth.”

As a little reminder, Microsoft reported record revenue for its Q1 as well. For Q1 Microsoft reported earnings of $17.4 billion.

In reporting its Q2 financial results, Microsoft shed some light onto Windows 7’s popularity as well. The company announced that more than 525 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold so far.

Switching focus away from Microsoft and putting the spotlight on Google, the Mountain View-based search engine giant made public the financial results for its Q4 2011, the quarter that ended on December 31st and marked the end of Google’s fiscal year. Google reported strong revenue of $10.58 billion, a 25% increase compared to the same quarter of last year. This is the first time in Google’s history when it passed the $10 billion mark for quarterly earnings.

Google’s CEO and co-founder Larry Page had the following to comment on the Q4 financial results:
“Google had a really strong quarter ending a great year. Full year revenue was up 29%, and our quarterly revenue blew past the $10 billion mark for the first time. I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally – well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google+ we will create amazing experiences across our services. I’m very excited about what we can do in 2012 – there are tremendous opportunities to help users and grow our business.”



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