A Look at Microsoft's Q4 Earnings

On Thursday, tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported earnings. The company reported a loss, taking a write down on the flailing online ad service aQuantive. Microsoft took a $0.73 “Goodwill Impairment” and adjusted their earnings. Shares of Microsoft traded up on Friday morning. Traders may be giving Microsoft a pass on the loss as a “one time” event. The company had acted responsibly and had pre-warned investors of the write down.Revenue rose 4% to $18.1 billion, compared with the $18.2 billion average projection. GAAP EPS came in at $0.67 against a $0.62 estimate.The company's Windows 8 operating system is set to be released October 26th, and its Office 13 will not be far behind. Windows and Windows Live was the only division that came in with declining sales. The division reported $4.15 billion in revenue - the 1% decrease largely due to the Windows Upgrade Offer deal. Other Revenues:

• Business division $6.29 billion, up 7%
• Server & Tools division $5.09 billion, up 13%
• Online Services division $0.74 billion revenue, up 8%
• Entertainment and Devices division $1.79 billion, up 20%

In the quarter, Microsoft acquired Yammer for $1.2 billion and made a $300 million investment in Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS). It bought about a billion dollars worth of patents from AOL and sold more than half for $550 million to Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). It has also announced the Surface tablet computer, which will go on sale after the release of Windows 8 in the Fall.From a technical perspective, Microsoft may be seen to be in a bullish triangle pattern and in bullish phase. Today confirms a breakout above the 50 day moving average. The company is a Dow Blue Chip with a P/E of 11, sales growth of around 6%, almost no debt and an ever increasing dividend yield near 2.61%.