News
It Just Keeps Going…
Microsoft reports surge in first quarter earnings, due to strong software sales of Windows 98, NT, and SQL Server.
Despite a still-uncertain ship date for Windows 2000, an unsettled Justice Department lawsuit, and increasing talk about open source code, Microsoft yesterday reported a 43 percent surge in earnings for the first quarter of 1999. That brought earnings to 35 cents a share, up from 25 cents a share for the first quarter of last year. Analysts had estimated Microsoft would earn 32 cents a share. Profit for the quarter ended March 31 was $1.92 billion, up from $1.34 billion for the same quarter the year before. Revenue increased 15 percent, to $4.33 billion for the quarter.