Microsoft suffers 1st quarterly loss in 26 years
7/20/2012LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft Corp. said Thursday an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business led to its first quarterly loss in its 26 years as a public company.
The software company had warned it was taking a $6.2 billion charge because its 2007 purchase of online ad service aQuantive hasn't yielded the returns envisioned by management. The noncash adjustment is something companies do when the value of their assets decline.
The charge led to a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter, or 6 cents a share. That compares with earnings of $5.9 billion, or 69 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 4 percent to $18.06 billion.