Stocks Jump After Earnings: Microsoft Corporation & McDonald’s Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT, NYSE: MCD)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares are shining in the pre-market session as the tech bellwether reported a better than estimated third quarter earnings driven by strong performance at Windows, overshadowing weak performance from Xbox and Kinect.
The company posted net income of $5.1 billion, or 60 cents a share, down from a year ago profit of $5.2 billion, or 61 cents a share. Last year’s results were boosted by a tax benefit of $461 million, or 5 cents per share. Revenue duirng the latest quarter grew 6% year-over-year to $17.4 billion.
Analysts were estimating the company to report 58 cents per share on revenue of $17.2 billion.
Most of Microsoft’s businesses posted solid sales growth compared with last year: 14% for the server and tools division; 9% for the business sector, which includes Office; 6% for online services. Microsoft’s Windows division sales increased by 4% year-over-year to $4.6 billion.
But the gaming business, which has recently been a strong point for Microsoft, weakened compared to last year. Sales in that division fell 16%, to $1.6 billion.
Shares of MSFT are up 3.64% to $32.14 in the pre-market session.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) reported a stronger than estimated first quarter earnings, thanks to its increased sales during the quarter.
The company posted net income of $1.27 billion, or $1.23 per share, compared to a year ago profit of $1.21 billion, or $1.15 a share.
Same-store sales during the quarter soared 7.30%, well above the analysts’ estimates of 6.70% driven by a 8.90% jump in the United States, while in Europe, same-restaurant sales rose 5%.
Total revenue during the quarter grew 7% to $6.55 billion.
Analysts were targeting the company to report $1.23 a share on revenue of 6.54 billion.
Shares of MCD are up over 25 in the pre-market session.