Microsoft posts first ever quarterly loss of $0.06 per share on $18.06 billion in sales

Microsoft (MSFT) on Thursday reported its earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2012. The software giant posted its first ever quarterly loss of $0.06 per share on sales of $18.06 billion, due to a huge $6.2 billion charge in its online services division relating to its failed 2007 acquisition of aQuantive. Excluding one-time charges, the company managed a record quarter, pulling in a profit of $0.73 per share versus Wall Street’s EPS expectations of $0.62, on revenue of $18.06 billion, which narrowly missed the Street’s $18.13 billion consensus. Microsoft’s performance is expected to be further bolstered later this year following the launches of its Surface tablet computer, Windows 8 operating system and Office 2013 productivity suite. Microsoft’s press release follows below.

Read