Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is expected to benefit from the recent data on the global PC shipments, which declined less than expected. According to Gartner, for the fiscal third quarter, global PC unit shipments were down 1.7% year over year to 76.5 million, which was less than the expected due to the strong performance in the U.S. market that witnessed a 2.1% increase year over year “due to the end of life of Windows XP.”
Strong U.S. PC sales positive for Microsoft
For Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), the U.S. performance could act as a positive catalyst as it would result in higher average selling price for the operating system along with lowering the chances of piracy, says a report from Hilliard Lyons by analyst Stephen Turner in a report dated April 11, 2014.
For 2014, the analyst has lowered the estimate for PC unit sales from 320 million units to 314 million owing to the rising popularity of tablets and cheaper devices in the emerging market.
Previously, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) expected the deal with Nokia to conclude in March, however, now the software giant has announced that the deal would close by the end of April as there has been a delay in getting approval from foreign regulators including a tax dispute in India.
Estimates revised due to delay over Nokia deal
Previous estimates for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) from the analyst included the Nokia results, but now the analyst has come out with the new estimates reflecting the delay in the completion of the deal. For FQ3 2014, the analyst now expects lower revenue of $20.49 billion compared to the previous estimate of $22.10 billion. For the quarter, management has provided guidance of $20-$20.5 billion in revenues. Since the revenues are lower, costs of goods sold and operating expenses have also been lowered reflecting the exclusion of hardware sales from Nokia devices.
For the quarter, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EPS estimates have been revised upwards by a penny to $0.63 reflecting the delay in the completion of the deal and positive data from the PC market. For the full year, there has been no change in the EPS estimate.
The Hilliard Lyons analyst has a Neutral rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
