Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will both release their earnings reports for the three months ended June 30 this afternoon after the close of market. Tensions will be high as investors try to figure which of the two tech behemoths is likely to have outperformed in the quarter past.
Analysts following Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are looking for earnings per share of $10.80 from the search giant on revenue totaling $14.5 billion. In the same three months of 2012, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) earned $10.12 per share on $12.2 billion revenue. Google records the three months as its second fiscal quarter.
For Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) analysts see the company earnings at 75 cents per share on quarterly revenue of $20.7 billion. In 2012 the company earned 73 cents on $18.1 billion. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) records the three months through June as its fiscal fourth quarter.
Google and Microsoft engaging in mobile warfare
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) are both heavily invested in the smartphone and tablet businesses, though they may be coming from slightly different angles. Google isn’t really interested in tablet revenue, instead looking for revenue for its services on Android phones, while it’s still not entirely clear what Microsoft wants from its smartphone and tablet business.
Microsoft has released a host of services to compete with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), though none of them have done particularly well so far. The company is also producing its own tablet, the Surface. The third possible major revenue stream is the same as that in the PC business. Microsoft could ask OEMs to pay large license fees to include its software. The strategy, which seems almost archaic, is definitely out of the company’s reach right now.
Google and Microsoft not really playing on the same field
Though Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MST) are regularly placed side by side as two of the biggest rivals in the tech world, there are very few core businesses that the companies actually compete directly on. Bing doesn’t bring in enough money for Microsoft to suggest its actively competing in that sphere. The same can be said for Google Chrome OS.
The reality is that until Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) came along to ruin the party Google and Microsoft had the tech world divided neatly between them. Both were making a literal ton of money, and neither had two much to worry about.
The real competition
Ecosystems and brand identity — Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) revolutionized these concepts in the twenty first century giving some individuals something to cheer about besides football. Micrososft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are both looking for this same treatment.
After the bell rings this afternoon both firms will release earnings reports. We’ll see who’s on top then.
