Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Smart_Money]

Headlines now say MSFT beat by a penny. go figure.



Microsoft Posts Profit, Splits Stock
Thursday January 16, 4:56 pm ET


REDMOND, Wash. (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - News) on Thursday posted quarterly sales and earnings that outstripped its own forecast and Wall Street expectations as a new software licensing plan lifted revenues, and announced a two-for-one stock split.
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It also announced its first-ever dividend of 16 cents per share, before the split, since going public in 1986.

Microsoft reported a net profit of $2.55 billion, or 47 cents per share for its fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $2.28 billion, or 41 cents per share a year earlier.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant had forecast a profit of 45 or 46 cents, while analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting 46 cents per share on average.