Microsoft Results Disappoint, 5,000 Job Cuts Coming

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Microsoft posted quarterly results that missed Wall Street expectations, announced it would cut up to 5,000 jobs and said it could no longer offer profit forecasts for the rest of the fiscal year.

Shares of Microsoft fell 8.5 percent in pre-market trading.

Microsoft posted a profit of £3.06 billion, or 0.35 pence per share, in its fiscal second quarter ended 31st December, versus a profit of £3.46 billion, or 0.37 pence, a year earlier. Analysts were looking for earnings per share of 0.36 pence, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 2 percent to £12.20 billion, missing the average analyst forecast of £12.55 billion.

To cut costs, Microsoft said it will eliminate up to 5,000 jobs in research and development, marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources and information technology over the next 18 months, including 1,400 jobs on Thursday.