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Microsoft posts net loss of $492 million for Q4 2012 despite record revenue

Microsoft posts net loss of $492 million for Q4 2012 despite record revenue

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Microsoft has announced its earnings for Q4 2012, and the company is posting a net income loss of $492 million due to its 2007 acquisition of aQuantive.

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Steve Ballmer stock 2
Steve Ballmer stock 2

Microsoft has just announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ending June 30th, 2012, and the company has posted a net loss of $492 million. Despite record revenue of $18.06 billion, the company was weighed down by what it's calling a "goodwill impairment charge" of $6.2 billion — namely, the write-off of its 2007 acquisition of aQuantive. Aside from that one-time cost, however, Redmond is trending in the precise direction it wants to be: the quarter's revenue figure represents an increase of 7 percent from the same time last year, with its quarterly operating income of $6.93 billion representing a twelve-percent increase.

The company's Entertainment and Devices Division — which includes the Xbox 360 — recorded the most impressive growth, with revenue for the quarter jumping 20 percent to more than $1.7 billion. The Business Division posted a more modest 7 percent increase, accounting for almost $6.3 billion in revenue. The Windows and Windows Live Divisions actually declined 13 percent — granted, to a a still more-than-healthy $4.1 billion — no doubt representing a slowing of sales and upgrades in anticipation of the forthcoming Windows 8 revamp.

For the fiscal year in total, Microsoft recorded $73.72 billion in revenue, with operating income at $21.76 billion. With the aQuantive write-off now out of the way, CEO Steve Ballmer sounded a note of great optimism about the year ahead, stating that "We delivered record fourth quarter and annual revenue, and we're fast approaching the most exciting launch season in Microsoft history." Microsoft will be holding a call to discuss the results at 5:30PM EDT; we'll be listening in and will bring you further details then.