Microsoft is absorbing a $6.2 billion charge to reflect that one of the biggest deals in its 37-year history turned out to be a dud.
The non-cash charge announced Monday could saddle Microsoft Corp. with a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter ended in June. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted Microsoft would earn about $5.3 billion for the period. The company hasn’t suffered a quarterly loss during the past 20 years, according to its website.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is scheduled to release its latest quarterly results on July 19.
The world’s largest software maker blamed the setback on the disappointing performance of aQuantive. That’s an online advertising service that Microsoft bought for $6.3 billion in 2007 to mount a more serious challenge to one of its biggest rivals, Internet search leader Google Inc.
The aQuantive deal ranked as the most expensive deal in Microsoft’s history until it was eclipsed last year by the company’s $8.5 billion purchase of Internet video chat service Skype.
Investors can only hope Skype works out better than aQuantive.
Microsoft’s $6.2 billion charge represents a sobering acknowledgement that aQuantive didn’t bring in as much online advertising revenue as envisioned, forcing management to write off most of the purchase price.
To add to Microsoft’s mortification, Google has been milking the acquisition of an aQuantive rival to widen its lead in the steadily growing online ad market. Google bought DoubleClick for $3.2 billion about eight months after Microsoft took control of aQuantive,
Since then, Google’s annual profit and advertising sales have more than doubled. Last year, Google earned $9.7 billion and collected $36.5 billion in ad revenue.
Microsoft’s online division has sustained losses totaling of nearly $9 billion since the company bought aQuantive. The online division generated $2.5 billion in revenue during Microsoft’s fiscal 2011, just $54 million more than in fiscal 2007.
Although the online division has been faring slightly better in the past year, “the company’s expectations for future growth and profitability are lower than previous estimates,” Microsoft said in a Monday statement.
Bing, a search engine that Microsoft unveiled four years ago, has been getting more usage, but most of its gains have come at the expense of a business partner, Yahoo Inc. Microsoft’s search technology has been powering searches on Yahoo’s website for nearly two years, but that alliance hasn’t dented Google’s market share.
Google’s share of the U.S. search advertising market has risen from 74 percent in 2010 to 78 percent this year, according to the research firm eMarketer. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s share U.S. search advertising has fallen from 10 percent in 2010 to less than 5 percent this year while Microsoft’s cut has remained unchanged at 7 percent.
BGP Financial Partners analyst Colin Gillis doesn’t expect the hefty charge to dampen investors’ enthusiasm as the anticipation builds for the upcoming release of Microsoft’s latest version of the Windows operating system that remains the company’s biggest moneymaker. The revisions in Windows 8, expected to hit the market this fall, are being counted on to help revive personal computer sales and establish Microsoft as a major player in the tablet computer market.
“AQuantive didn’t work out, but everyone already pretty much knew that,” Gillis said. “Now, they are just mopping up.”
Microsoft shares shed 13 cents to $30.43 in Monday’s extended trading. At that level, Microsoft’s stock price has still posted a 17 percent gain so far this year.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More