Microsoft earns record fourth quarter revenue, but posts a loss

Microsoft has revealed in its new earnings report that it generated the highest fiscal fourth quarter in the company’s long history, earning $18.06B in revenue, up from the previous year’s $17.37B.

However, that revenue was offset by its operating income of $192M, with a loss per share of $0.06, which means the company lost $492M in the quarter, which marks the first time Microsoft ever suffered a quarterly loss. However, the loss is largely due to a one-time payment of $6.2B as a “goodwill impairment charge” which was part of a botched aQuantive acquisition.

As for the Entertainment and Devices Division, aka the Xbox 360, revenue went up 20% ($292M more), chiefly thanks to Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype. This allowed Microsoft to show a profit in the division despite shipping 600K less Xbox 360’s in the quarter.

The Xbox 360 was still the best-selling console in the US for the 18th month in a row.