Microsoft profit beats Wall St expectations
Seattle: Microsoft Corp has registered a 65 per cent rise in Q1 profit, beating Wall Street estimates on the back demand for its new Windows Vista operating system. Shares of Microsoft rose 5 per cent after the announcement. Microsoft posted a net profit of $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal third quarter ended March 31 versus a profit of $2.98 billion, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding tax benefits and a legal charge, Microsoft earned 49 cents per share, beating the average analyst forecast of 46 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 32 per cent to $14.4 billion. Analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of $13.89 billion, with estimates ranging from $13.73 billion to $14.09 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
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Ford results better than expectations
Detroit: Ford Motor Co. has registered a lower-than-expected loss in Q1, mainly due to cost-cutting efforts and improved results from its European and luxury vehicle operations. The company's shares ended up sharply on the results.

The results, marking Ford's seventh consecutive unprofitable quarter, were far better than Wall Street expectations and brought the struggling automaker closer to its goal of returning to profitability by 2009.

Ford also raised its second quarter North American production forecast by 5 per cent, to 810,000 vehicles.

However, the loss at Ford's North American operations widened in the first quarter and the company said it still expected that more than half of its forecast $17 billion cash burn over its three-year restructuring effort would hit results this year.
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Boeing gets orders worth $2bn
New York: US plane manufacturer Boeing Co has received more than $2 billion worth of commercial orders as it continued its scorching pace of sales after setting a record last year. The U.S based company is dominating the market for mid-sized planes with its 787 Dreamliner, which promises to cut airlines' fuel costs, while its revamped 747 jumbo is also selling well.

Boeing's order on Thursday was for six of its 777 minijumbo freighters, worth about $1.4 billion at list prices from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, which is setting up an aircraft leasing operation.
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