News
Microsoft Reports Q2 Revenue Rise of 14%
Microsoft reported positive financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal-year 2014 period.
Overall revenue was $24.5 billion for the quarter, which met financial analyst estimates, and represented a 14% increase compared year over year. Diluted earnings per share, at $0.78 for the quarter, exceeded analyst expectations of about $0.68 per share.
Microsoft also reported a gross margin of $16.2 billion, operating income of almost $8 billion and net income of $6.6 billion for the quarter. Microsoft's fiscal Q2 period ended on Dec. 31, 2013, reflecting holiday purchasing (see chart).
Microsoft Q2 2014 revenue earnings across segments.
Microsoft's Windows desktop revenue was a little rocky in Q2, as occurred with Microsoft's Q1 earnings. Microsoft's Windows performance likely reflects the 10% plunge in PC sales that was reported by analyst firms for the 2013 holiday quarter, as well as a general trend toward consumer use of mobile computing devices running Android or Apple's iOS operating systems. However, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer nonetheless claimed that "our Devices and Consumer Segment had a great holiday quarter," according to a released statement accompanying Microsoft's Q2 financials.
Overall, the Devices and Consumer (D&C) segment showed a 13% revenue increase at $11.9 billion. Microsoft's new financial reporting structure (see table) lumps the Windows desktop operating system into a "Devices and Consumer (D&C) Licensing" segment for non-volume licensing consumer sales and a "Commercial Licensing" segment for volume licensing sales. Microsoft's Q2 announcement reported a 3% revenue decline from Windows OEM sales, representing the consumer market. However, the Windows OEM Pro market was up 12%, according to Microsoft.
The Devices and Consumer segment also includes Microsoft Office and Windows Phone financials. Microsoft reported Microsoft Office revenue being off in its Form 10-Q report, with Windows Phone revenue increasing:
Consumer Office revenue declined $244 million or 24%, reflecting the transition of customers to Office 365 Home Premium as well as continued softness in the consumer PC market. Windows Phone revenue increased $340 million or 50%, reflecting higher sales of Windows Phone licenses and an increase in mobile phone patent licensing revenue.
Microsoft also reported revenue from its Surface computer sales. Surface Q2 revenue was $893 million vs. $400 million in Q1. No breakdown was provided on sales of Surface Pro vs. Surface RT devices.
Overall, Microsoft's Commercial revenue was up 10% in Q2 at $12.7 billion. Microsoft has two Commercial financial reporting segments that are called "Licensing" and "Other," which largely reflect its server sales to businesses. Microsoft reported double-digit growth for Q2 for SQL Server, System Center and cloud services. The company reported triple-digit growth ("more than 100%") for "Office 365 commercial seats and Azure customers" in Q2. However, the figures weren't broken out in Microsoft's announcement.
| Microsoft Segment |
Products or Services |
| Devices and Consumer Licensing |
- Windows OEM licensing, other non-volume licensing and academic volume licensing;
- Microsoft Office consumer non-volume licensing;
- Windows Phone patent licensing and other patent licensing revenue
|
| Devices and Consumer Hardware |
- Xbox gaming consoles;
- Xbox Live subscriptions;
- Vendor video games sales;
- Surface;
- Microsoft PC accessories
|
| Devices and Consumer Other |
- Resale associated with Windows Store, Xbox Live and Windows Phone Marketplace;
- Search advertising;
- Display advertising;
- Subscriptions associated with Office 365 Home Premium;
- Studios associated with first-party video games;
- Microsoft retail stores;
- Other consumer products and services not included in the categories above
|
| Commercial Licensing |
- Server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio and System Center;
- Windows Embedded;
- Windows commercial volume licensing, excluding academic;
- Commercial Office, including Microsoft Office for business, Exchange, SharePoint and Lync;
- Client Access Licenses;
- Microsoft Dynamics, excluding Dynamics CRM Online;
- Skype
|
| Commercial Other |
-
Enterprise Services, including Premier support services and Microsoft Consulting Services;
- Cloud Services, including commercial Office 365 (but excluding Office 365 Home Premium), plus other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Windows Azure;
- Other commercial products and online services not included in the categories above.
|
| Corporate and Other |
|
Table. Microsoft's business segments. Source: Form 10-Q, Sept. 30, 2013
|
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.