Packing batteries with more punch
Indian researchers are working on cells that can store more energy, last longer
The software company had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn’t yielded the returns envisioned by management.
Microsoft has said that an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company.
The software company had warned that it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn’t yielded the returns envisioned by management.
The non-cash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets decline. Microsoft Corp paid $6.3 billion for aQuantive, only to see rival Google Inc expand its share of the online ad market.
The charge led to a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter, or 6 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $5.9 billion, or 69 cents, a year ago.
Revenue rose 4 per cent to $18.06 billion.
Excluding the adjustment and the deferral of some revenue into the current quarter related to its launch of Windows 8, earnings came to 73 cents per share, beating the 62 cents per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Although the earnings were higher than expected, analysts were looking for higher revenue at $18.15 billion.
Shares were up 65 cents, or 2.1 per cent, at $31.32 in after-hours trading following the release of earnings results.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, has never previously reported a quarterly loss since the company’s initial public offering in March 1986. The aQuantive-driven setback isn’t likely to faze investors, who usually focus on what lies ahead for a company instead of dwelling on past mistakes.
Microsoft’s fortunes are tied to the October release of Windows 8, the most extreme redesign of the company’s flagship operating system since 1995.
Windows 8 will feature a new look that will show applications in a mosaic of tiles and boast new technology that will enable the operating system to work on touch-controlled tablet computers, as well as its traditional stronghold on desktop and laptop computers. In conjunction with Windows 8, Microsoft is planning to release its own tablet, the Surface.
Indian researchers are working on cells that can store more energy, last longer
To fix a broken bone, doctors often harvest another bone from the patient’s body or from someone else. It ...
Superconductors from IIScScientists at IISc Bangalore have invented a device with a nanocrystal structure ...
Engineering and construction giant L&T has won a licence from the Council of Scientific & Industrial ...
Will a stock continue its current trend or will it reverse? We tell you how you can read chart patterns to ...
Sensex and Nifty 50 saw selling interest on Friday and slumped; selling pressure could continue
Investors with a long-term horizon can consider this offer
Most AMCs have been sending out cryptic e-mails. We tell you how to read between the lines
In these isolated times when people yearn for a slice of the familiar, amateur and professional chefs are ...
With strokes of quirky humour, Partha Pratim Deb uses pulp, terracotta, glass and discarded cloth to create ...
Given the events in Washington DC on January 6, this week’s quiz is all about buildings that house or housed ...
While good writing wars against the cliché, television gives it a natural home
Digital is becoming dominant media, but are companies and their ad agencies transforming fast enough to make a ...
Slow Network, promoted by journalist-lyricist Neelesh Misra, pushes rural products and experiences
How marketers can use the traditional exchange of festive wishes meaningfully
For Fortune, a brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was a rude shock to become the butt of social media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor