Microsoft CFO sees 13-15 pct rev growth in FY'07
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Microsoft Corp. Chief  Financial Officer Chris Liddell on Wednesday said the world's  largest software company still expected revenue to grow 13  percent to 15 percent for the current fiscal year.
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(InfoWorld) - A Sun Microsystems executive said the $13 billion technology company should be able to handle a possible slowdown in information technology (IT) spending better than some of its larger rivals. John Fowler, senior vice president of Sun's Systems Group, which sells servers and related products, responded Tuesday to a research report forecasting slower growth for global IT spending in 2007. Forrester ResearchÂ forecasts worldwide spending on IT goods and services to grow by only 5 percent next year, after two consecutive years of 8 percent growth. Forrester said 5 percent would be the weakest growth rate since 2003. Fowler, in an interview with technology reporters, said larger rivals such as Hewlett-Packard, which finished its fiscal year with $91.7 billion in revenue, IBM, forecast to make $90.72 billion, and Dell, $58 billion, are more vulnerable to macroeconomic conditions than the smaller Sun. "We can, in a weaker market, gain ground in market share by virtue of product and execution, which is what has been happening," Fowler said. He noted that when the worldwide server market grew by just 0.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, Sun's revenue grew by 15.5 percent, according to a report from the research firm IDC. In the third quarter, when the server market grew only 3.5 percent, Sun's revenue grew 15.8 percent. "You have to pay attention to macroeconomics but...if you were a $60 to $70 billion company, the macroeconomics affect you [more] dramatically," Fowler said. However, Sun's server shares have been in the low double digits and the company has been reporting net losses in recent quarterly reports. Forrester said sales in the U.S., in particular, will be weak as chief information officers at companies reduce spending in the coming year. "This is a caution flag for IT vendors, 2007 will be a challenging environment," said Andrew Bartels, vice president of Forrester Research, in a prepared statement.
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Microsoft posted its first-quarter 2005 financial results last week, reporting revenue of US$9.19 billion and net income of $2.9 billion.
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Microsoft Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 11 percent, beating analysts' expectations, as the software company benefited from stronger-than-expected computer and server shipments.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its full-year estimates and posted a 23 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, topping investor expectations on strong demand for "Halo 3" and Windows Vista, and sending its shares up 11 percent.
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Microsoft Corp  Chief  Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday it will probably buy  up to 20 companies a year at a cost of anywhere from $50  million to $1 billion for the next five years.
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Microsoft Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 11 percent, beating analysts' expectations, as the company benefited from stronger-than-expected computer and server shipments.
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Strong sales of new and old products alike led Microsoft to its fastest first-quarter growth in eight years, with the company reporting growth in all five business segments and both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) that beat analyst expectations.
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SEATTLE - For Microsoft Corp. shareholders, the holidays will likely come early this year in the form of a one-time $3 dividend thatâs part of the companyâs plan to return some of its $64.
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The software giant's CFO says a target as big as SAP is less likely, but some big buys could be in Microsoft's future.
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SAP, the world's leading maker of business software, is planning to grow by 15 percent or more in the United States this year after a disappointing year in 2006, the head of the group's US operations said in a newspaper interview.
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YESTERDAY Close $31.51 Change +$0.59 52-WEEK High $31.84 Low $22.72 Microsoft Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit edged up 7 percent despite a hefty charge to cover the cost of defective Xbox 360 video game consoles.
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The world's richest man got a raise last year. Microsoft Corp.'s chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, earned &#36;901,667 in Microsoft's 2004 fiscal year, up 4.4 percent from a year ago.
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The economy will likely pick up in  2007 after output growth slows rapidly in late 2006, according  to a survey conducted by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank  released on Thursday.
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Microsoft&#39;s $1.2 billion acquisition bid for Oslo-based Fast Search and Transfer and a dour report on Amazon marked the new year&#39;s first full trading week in the United States, as technology company share prices continued to slide.The increase in tech share prices that occurred in 2007 -- a banner year for IT company earnings -- appears to be in danger of evaporating, as fears of a general downturn and bad news on the consumer front resound among industry insiders. U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke&#39;s announcement on Thursday that he would move to cut interest rates to spur growth provided only a temporary halt to a decline in the Nasdaq Composite Index, which closed Friday at 2,440, down 212 points from its close at the end of 2007.This week, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs forecast that the United States will suffer a recession this year. Company analyst David Kostin reduced his recommendation for the amount of technology stocks that investors should keep in their portfolios, from 19 percent to 15 percent.Investors usually like to keep a good percentage of their holdings in tech stocks to hedge their bets. IT companies are truly global, with major U.S. vendors earning about 50 percent of their revenue outside their home countries.But inside the United States, tech companies are getting hit with a double whammy: a predicted weakening of consumer spending because of falling home prices and a resulting crisis in financial markets. Up to 18 percent of U.S. and global tech spending comes from financial companies, according to Forrester Research.Turmoil in the financial markets will likely dampen tech buyouts from private equity investors, according to the 451 Group&#39;s Tech Banking Outlook Survey, released this week. But that might not stop cash-rich technology companies from continuing to shop for deals, it noted.On Tuesday,&#160;Microsoft announced that it would buy enterprise search software company Fast Search And Transfer&#160;for 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.2 billion). Microsoft said it will integrate Fast Search&#39;s high-end search technologies into its enterprise infrastructure offerings, including SharePoint Server 2007 business productivity platform.Microsoft is locked in a search battle with Google, not just for general Web searches but also for businesses. Fast Search shares got an immediate boost on the Oslo exchange, where its price jumped from 13.35 kroner to close at 18.80 kroner Tuesday. The deal did not keep Microsoft shares from sliding in a generally down market for tech, however.On the consumer side, investors were particularly spooked by comments on Tuesday from AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson, who said the company has had to stop servicing an increasing number of customers who did not pay their bills. The company closed Tuesday at $39.07, down by $1.96 for the day.The news did not bode well for other technology companies that sell to consumers. Citing uncertainty about U.S. consumer spending, American Technology Research Monday put a &quot;sell&quot; rating on Amazon, which then on Tuesday fell by $2.66 to close at $85.22 on the Nasdaq.Even companies that received positive reports from analysts this week were slammed by the general market slide. Lazard Capital Markets started its coverage of virtualization-software darling VMware, which had a successful IPO last month, by issuing a &quot;buy&quot; rating on Tuesday. VMware&#39;s share price jumped by $5.39 to close at $79.89 Wednesday, but slid back to $77.53 by the end of the week.
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Microsoft Corp  lifted its  full-year forecasts and posted 23 percent quarterly profit  growth on Thursday, topping analysts' estimates on strong sales  of "Halo 3" and Vista, and sending its shares up 11 percent.
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Wall Street's annual bonuses may rise  10 percent to 15 percent this year, half as much as a year ago,  as revenue growth falls short of earlier expectations, a  leading industry consultant said.