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Microsoft earnings nearly double

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that first-quarter earnings soared 44 percent from last year, due mainly to strong crude and natural gas prices. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that first-quarter earnings soared 44 percent from last year, due mainly to strong crude and natural gas prices. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that third-quarter earnings nearly doubled from last year, driven by growth in the software company’s server and tools business and lower legal costs, but revenue fell shy of Wall Street expectations.

For the three months that ended March 31, the Redmond-based software maker earned $2.56 billion, or 23 cents per share, up from $1.32 billion, or 12 cents per share, a year ago.

The company’s latest earnings included legal charges of 5 cents per share, down from 17 cents per share in the same period last year, and a stock-based compensation expense of 4 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for the company to post earnings of 32 cents per share on sales of $9.83 billion in the latest quarter. The company would have met earnings projections, except for expenses of 4 cents a share due to options expensing, a new accounting requirement.

Revenue rose 5 percent, from $9.18 billion to $9.62 billion, but was less than the revenue forecast analysts were looking for: $9.83 billion.

• Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded energy company, reported that first-quarter profits surged 44 percent as high prices for oil and natural gas more than offset declining production.

The news Thursday was similar at Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos. and Marathon Oil Co., which also reported sharply higher profits despite a drop in production.

Exxon said it earned $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share, up from $5.44 billion, or 83 cents per share, a year earlier. However, excluding a $460 million gain on the sale of Exxon’s stake in China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., operating income was $1.15 per share.

• Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable television company, said Thursday its profit nearly quintupled in the first quarter, as hundreds of thousands of customers signed up for its premium cable and Internet services.

Comcast earned $313 million, or 14 cents a share, compared to $65 million, or 3 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2004. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had predicted earnings of 11 cents a share.

The cable operator reported first-quarter revenues of $5.36 billion, up from $4.91 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Comcast said the results were buoyed by growth in its cable and content divisions and improved operating margins.

• First-quarter earnings at Dow Chemical Co., the nation’s largest chemical company, nearly tripled amid significant price increases and solid volume in all sectors, the company said Thursday.

Quarterly income rose to $1.35 billion, or $1.39 a share, from $469 million, or 50 cents a share, last year. Earnings for the latest quarter included a gain of 5 cents a share on the sale of the company’s stake in its Equate joint venture.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected Dow Chemical to earn $1.05 a share on sales of $11.59 billion, and several analysts congratulated the company Thursday during a conference call.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Thursday its first-quarter income plunged 36 percent because of patent expirations and increasing pressure on its cholesterol-lowering drug.

Meanwhile, London-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC reported a 14 percent rise in quarterly profits as it announced that it expects to have two withdrawn drugs — anti-depressant Paxil CR and diabetes treatment Avandamet — back on the market by the end of year. Glaxo shares rose nearly 7 percent.

• As Wendy’s International Inc. reported a decline in its first quarter profits, in part because of a now-discredited claim that a customer found a finger in a bowl of chili, company officials said on Thursday that they think the worst is over. The company’s shares rose 3 percent.

Wendy’s, the nation’s third-largest hamburger chain, said first-quarter earnings fell 2.8 percent for the quarter that ended April 3 to $51.3 million, or 45 cents per share, from $52.8 million, or 45 cents per share, a year ago. The company also blamed bad weather in parts of the country and higher beef prices. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were looking for a profit of 40 cents per share.