EARNINGS

MICROSOFT SHARES UP ON 4Q REVENUE GROWTH, BUYBACK PLANS Microsoft Corp. shares rose 5.9% in late trading yesterday after the software giant reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and announced plans for further stock buybacks.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, Microsoft said revenue rose 16% to $11.8 billion from $10.16 billion, surpassing the average analyst estimate of $11.63 billion, according to Thomson First Call.

The Redmond, Wash., company cited improved sales of its server software and Xbox 360 videogame consoles. During the quarter, Microsoft shipped 1.8 million Xbox video game consoles, and sales of its SQL Server database rose 35%.

The company also recorded $10.9 billion in deferred revenue, greater than Microsoft had anticipated and suggesting strong interest in its upcoming Vista release and new Office product, said Colleen Healy, Microsoft’s general manager of investor relations.

– Dow Jones Newswires

ECONOMY

FED MINUTES: MOST SAW INFLATION ‘LIKELY TO EDGE DOWN’ U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers meeting last month were all concerned by higher core inflation, but most expected inflation to ease, according to the June 28–29 meeting minutes released yesterday.

“With inflation expectations contained and unit labor costs held down by ongoing gains in productivity and modest advances in compensation, inflation was seen by most participants as likely to edge down,” according to Federal Open Market Committee minutes, released after a customary three-week lag.

The FOMC voted unanimously on June 29 to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points for 17th straight time, to 5.25%. But the minutes show many of the committee’s members had “significant uncertainty” about future policy, and one member indicated last month’s rate increase was “a close call.”

“All participants found the elevated readings on core inflation of recent months to be of concern and, if sustained, inconsistent with the maintenance of price stability,” according to the minutes.

– Dow Jones Newswires

IN THE COURTS

JUDGE RULES THAT AIG MUST SHARE RECORDS A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that AIG must allow one of ousted chairman Maurice Greenberg’s private companies access to business records that have been closed to it for more than a year. A spokesman for the company, C.V. Starr & Co., called the ruling a significant victory for the company, which has been denied access to files and documents that it once shared with AIG, the spokesman, Howard Opinsky, said. The ruling, by Judge Alvin Hellerstein of U.S. District Court in Manhattan, provides C.V. Starr & Co. “equal access” to the records.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun