Microsoft shares up as 'Halo 3' soarsMicrosoft Corp. shares hit a two-month high Tuesday after Goldman, Sachs & Co. said rising demand for the video game "Halo 3" will boost profits this quarter.
"We are expecting a strong quarter," analyst Sarah Friar wrote in a note to investors. The San Francisco-based analyst, who has a "buy" rating on Microsoft, raised her profit forecast for the fiscal first quarter by a cent to 40 cents a share.
Microsoft, which is scheduled to report results after the market closes Oct. 25, may show a profit of 39 cents, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg.
"Halo 3," the latest installment of the alien-shooting Xbox 360 game, brought in sales of $300 million in the week after its Sept. 25 debut, making it the fastest-selling video game ever.
Friar also boosted the company's earnings estimates for the next three years, citing the purchase of online advertiser aQuantive Inc. as well as rising sales of Xbox 360, Office 2007 and Windows Vista.
For 2008, Microsoft may report profit of $1.73 a share, the analyst said. That's a cent higher than her previous estimate, which is also the average analyst estimate from a Bloomberg survey.
The analyst raised her earnings predictions for 2009 and 2010 by a cent each, bringing the estimates to $1.94 a share and $2.28 a share, respectively.
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