MICROSOFT EARNINGS EXCEED FORECASTS.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire ServicesMicrosoft Corp.'s profits rose 52 percent in the latest quarter, helped by continued strong computer sales, the software company said Wednesday after stock markets had closed. Microsoft reported record net income of $1.13 billion or 85 cents a share on a diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. basis for the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with net income of $740 million or 57 cents a share a year earlier. Revenues totaled $3.59 billion, up 34 percent from the $2.68 billion a year ago. The profit outpaced analysts' consensus estimates, which had forecast about 82 cents a share. Microsoft said revenues from Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. and the Far East fell 8 percent from the previous quarter and that economic weakness in the region clouds the outlook for this year. Microsoft said European revenues rose 33 percent from a year earlier and that software sales to computer makers rose 40 percent. Microsoft wasn't the only major company to announce quarterly earnings Wednesday that analysts looked to for any affect of the Asian financial crisis. Among the others: The Boeing Co., still struggling with production problems, said Wednesday it would take a one-time charge of $1.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 1997 to cover the costs of phasing out assembly lines at McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. , the company it acquired last August. BankAmerica Corp. said fourth-quarter earnings rose 8.7 percent, meeting analyst forecasts, as gains in the U.S. overshadowed a drop in trading revenue from Asia's tumbling financial markets. Caterpillar caterpillar (kăt`əpĭl'ər, kăt`ər–), common name for the larva of a moth or butterfly. Caterpillars have distinct heads and are segmented and wormlike. Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 18 percent, topping estimates, as strong overall sales helped the world's largest maker of construction equipment overcome a slowdown in business in some Southeast Asian countries Noun 1. Asian country - any one of the nations occupying the Asian continent Asian nation country, land, state - the territory occupied by a nation; "he returned to the land of his birth"; "he visited several European countries" . Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an aerospace and defense conglomerate that is the result of the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company is the third largest defense contractor for the U.S. Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 79 percent because strong deliveries of commercial airlines parts and business jet planes more than offset lower sales of the B-2 bomber bomber Military aircraft designed to drop bombs on surface targets. Aerial bombardment can be traced to the Italo-Turkish War (1911), in which an Italian pilot dropped grenades on two Turkish targets. and F-18 fighter. Compaq Computer Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 37 percent as the world's largest personal computer maker sold more high-profit machines and said it's weathering the Asian economic crisis. |
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