"Microsoft Announces Record Q3 Earnings With $17.4B In Revenue"

Microsoft has announced its 2012 Q3 earnings with a record revenue of $17.41 billion for the quarter ending Mar. 31, 2012, a 6% increase from the prior year period. The company,

based in Redmond, WA, also announced that operating income was $6.37 billion, up 12% from the prior year period. Microsoft says these earnings are a record for third-quarter revenue.

In a statement released by Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft, said “We’re driving toward exciting launches across the entire company, while delivering strong financial results. ” He added that, “With the upcoming release of new Windows 8 PCs and tablets, the next version of Office, and a wide array of products and services for the enterprise and consumers, we will be delivering exceptional value to all our customers in the year ahead.”

Breaking down earnings per division:

The Server & Tools business posted $4.57 billion in third-quarter revenue, a 14% increase from the prior year period, driven by double-digit revenue growth in SQL Server and more than 20% growth in System Center revenue.

The Microsoft Business Division reported $5.81 billion in third-quarter revenue, a 9% increase from the prior year period, which Microsoft says reflects the continued strength of Office 2010 with businesses and consumers. Dynamics posted an 11% revenue increase from the prior year period, with Dynamics CRM revenue growing more than 30%.

The Windows and Windows Live Division posted revenue of $4.62 billion, a 4% increase from the prior year period.

The Online Services Division reported revenue of $707 million, a 6% increase from the prior year period, and operating loss improvement of approximately $300 million.

The only division to see a decrease in revenue was The Entertainment & Devices Division, which posted revenue of $1.62 billion, a 16% decrease from the prior period. Microsof says this is “due to a soft gaming console market.” However, the company notes that “Xbox remained the top-selling console in the U.S. for the 15th consecutive month.”

These numbers are overall impressive, and Microsoft is encouraged by their strength. Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft, says that in light of these earning, “We continue to execute well across our businesses, and we are seeing robust demand for our enterprise products and services. Our investments and offerings in the database platform and public, private, and hybrid cloud are helping our customers transform their operations to meet today’s evolving business demands.”