Microsoft Corp. (NYSE:MSFT, Stock Forum) said an accounting adjustment to reflect a weak online ad business was the cause of its first quarterly loss in 26 years.
The loss was US$492 million in the April-June quarter, or six cents a share.
Results included a $6.2 billion purchase of the online ad service aQuantive.
The purchase was made in an attempt to compete with Google Inc. (NYSE:GOOG, Stock Forum) over online advertisers.
However, since that deal closed, Google has increased its hold over the online ad market, leaving Microsoft in the red.
By mid-morning Friday, Google’s share price was up 18% and was selling for $611.17; Microsoft’s share price was down 2% and was selling for $30.19.
Currently, Microsoft is planning the October release of a revamped version of its new office software, Windows 8.
On Friday, Microsoft was trading for $30.33 a share. The company has a market cap of $255 billion, based on 8.4 billion shares outstanding. The 52-week high and low was $32.95 and $23.79 respectively.