MS Q3 Sales Hit by Low Corporate PC Demand

FRAMINGHAM (04/20/2000) - Although Microsoft Corp.'s profits rose 23% during its third quarter, the company's revenues came in below forecasts due to lower-than-expected demand for PCs by corporate customers.

Microsoft's earnings for the period ended March 31 climbed to $2.39 billion, or 43 cents a share, compared to $1.92 billion, or 35 cents a share, for the same period last year.

That beat Wall Street's estimates by 2 cents a share, according to a poll of analysts by First Call Corp.

Microsoft's revenues rose to $5.66 billion, a 23% gain from the $4.6 billion it garnered for the same period last year but below analysts' targets of up to $5.95 billion.

Microsoft shares closed up 1/4 to 78-15/16 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. before the earnings were announced.