Microsoft Money: Earnings Report To Come This Week
Last week's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference was, as these things always
are, quite a production. But behind the bands, the fireworks, the Nobel Prize-winning
keynoters and the half-decent meals is one thing: money. It's always the bottom
line, of course, and this week, the financial rubber hits the road again.
Microsoft is announcing earnings in a market that we might call unstable if
we were in a friendly mood. In an unfriendly mood, we'd call it a bear market,
which it technically is -- or has been, at least, at times in recent days. So
Microsoft's earnings report, due Thursday after the close of the stock market
(and therefore not likely to appear in RCPU until Monday, although RCPmag.com
will have coverage) is a big deal. Maybe a bigger deal than usual.
Analysts are bullish right now; Microsoft's stock price jumped a hair on Tuesday
on news that the results for the company's fourth fiscal quarter should
be pretty solid. But while the quarter-by-quarter mentality of Wall Street
dictates that Q4 gets the headlines, Microsoft will also be announcing results
for its whole fiscal year 2008. With that report, usually, comes plenty of news
for partners and a checkup on how various business units in Redmond are doing.
With banks and mortgage lenders seemingly dropping like flies, the technology
industry mostly just keeps rolling along. Of course, Microsoft is one of the
major catalysts that keeps it rolling, so Redmond's financial health should
be an indicator of just how stable or unstable the rest of calendar 2008 is
going to be for propeller heads like us. It's not that we're necessarily cheering
for Microsoft here (although we certainly don't cheer against it), but we are
hoping for solid results, as any good news on the economy is welcome news, and
anything that keeps the industry stable is positive, as well.
Posted by Lee Pender on July 16, 2008