Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Earnings: EPS $0.59, Revenue $19.9B

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) released its earnings report for the three months ending June 30 this afternoon after the bell rang on Wall Street. The software firm showed earnings of $0.59 per share for the period on revenue of $19.9 billion. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed today at $35.44 per share.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Earnings: EPS $0.59, Revenue $19.9B

Analysts studying the Windows maker were looking for earnings per share of 75 cents per share in this earnings report on revenues of $20.7 billion. In the same three months of 2012, Microsoft earned 73 cents per share on revenues of $18.1 billion. The future is as unstable as it’s ever been for Microsoft Corporation, though investors seem fairly positive on the company.

Is Microsft sacrificing the edge for design?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has gotten big over the years, and its size caused it to move slowly and work inefficiently. That led to the firm barely challenging in the smartphone and the tablet markets in 2012, well behind its major competitors Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Microsoft is trying to be better, and it’s restructuring its entire business so that it looks less like a group of moving parts and more like a unified whole. All of that sounds great on paper, but it doesn’t mean anything until the company delivers results, or at the very least products, based on that idea.

It’s obvious from the design of its most recent products, in both hardware and software, that Microsoft is trying to make everything look like everything else. The question is whether the company has managed to capture the essence or just the trappings of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) design philosophy.

Microsoft falling behind on competitive releases

Windows 8 has been an ‘all right’ launch for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Adoption rates have been solid and criticism has been low compared to past efforts. The problem is that the company needs to push the use of Windows 8 on tablets and convertible devices. If it can’t do that, it’s not going to get very far into the next generation of computing.

Microsoft is seeing the same problems all over its business. All of its markets appear to be resetting, and in  some the company is woefully behind. Games consoles are entering a new generation and a PR screw up has put Microsoft in the back seat, the company is behind on tablets and smartphones, and office alternatives like Google Docs are proliferating.

The coming year will be a time of intense change at Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). If it can get through it unscathed the future looks bright.

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