MS Investor Relations

The Microsoft annual report was done in a very professional manner for 2008, that was extremely business oriented, and attacked all of the issues and questions that shareholders may have had regarding the current status and future of the business. The company's letter to its shareholders was profound and announced important strategic moves that Microsoft has planned to make, and had made over the course of the year. Microsoft uses its annual report very professionally and presents the numbers clearly and thoroughly, including more than enough data for shareholders to gauge the success of the company that they hold stake in. The shareholder letter stresses transformation through innovation and ensures that Microsoft is ahead of the pack and innovating in order to expand business and continue to make profitable products. Also, it writes about emerging opportunities and markets, which stress the growing markets and opportunities that Microsoft has ahead of them for the future. They next stress supporting communities and diversity where they talk about their involvements with minority and women focused organizations. Lastly, they comment on strong leadership focused on the future, in which they refer to their top executives, what they've done, and where they plan to bring the company. Overall the shareholder letter is well done by Microsoft.

In a press release regarding Microsoft reporting their First-Quarter results, the mood was optimistic although the Profit fell 18%, and with this loss, Microsoft was still able to exceed the expectations on Wall Street. The overall message of the News Release and articles following it are that Windows 7 is ready to launch and will boost the company drastically, in spite of a slight but circumstantially acceptable loss. A quote from Chris Lidell, the chief financial officer at Microsoft said "We are very pleased with out performance this quarter and particularly by the strong consumer demand for Windows." This quote, although plain, is extremely professional and optimistic and could not provide anything but confidence from upper management to the stakeholders of the company. Perhaps Microsoft could loosen up their words once in a while a sound a bit more friendly, but Microsoft has a very professional and business oriented reputation and culture, and continue to stand by the precedent. This is why Microsoft's annual report, news release and letter are all top notch in regards to a fortune 500 companies expectations.