The New York Times’ John Markoff has this piece today regarding Microsoft’s earnings report, issued yesterday, and whether the company is telegraphing a renewed vigor by projecting increased expenses over the coming year. The Redmond giant is projecting lower shareholder returns for 2006 due to vague increased expenses, which makes some analysts believe that the sluggish company may be getting into shape to tackle competitors such as Google.
“It looks like Microsoft is going to war with Google, and trying to get their product development back in track,” said Eugene Munster of Piper Jaffray. According to Mark Stahlman of Caris & Company, the fact that Microsoft plans to spend significantly more in 2007 was an indication of renewed aggressiveness in its competitive strategy and an indication that the company was returning to the kind of actions it exhibited before the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit in the mid- and late 1990’s.
Microsoft, which has been a little lost over the past four or five years, would definitely be moving in the right direction if it were to make some smart investments to become more competitive. As usual, however, Wall Street, with its quick-buck bias, could kick the company down for moves that dilute earnings.
“It looks like a mess,” said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, “and the big issue is margins and expenses, the big issue is the bottom line. It makes it hard to get very excited about the company’s near-term prospects.”
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:25 AM|Comments(0)
Blogs We Read
