by: Jack Leeroy

Chicago, IL. ( 1pennystock.com ) -- Apr 27, 2007 -- /prbuzz/ -- The After Hours trading session for Microsoft has pushed the stock above the $30 price range. After hours price is $30.30 ; the stock went up 4.12% as of 7:40pm ET on 04/26/07

Investors are aware that sales of Vista is the main driving force that caused this rally.

"The strength of Vista is really driving this," said Kim Caughey, analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. She added that the company had set "manageable expectations for the full year 2008, which generally allows them some headroom."

Recently, Microsoft also experienced a spike in earnings. Earnings for the quarter ended March 31 rose to $4.93 billion, or 50 cents per share, from $2.98 billion, or 29 cents per share in same period last year. Revenue for the quarter rose 32 percent to $14.4 billion. Wall Street was looking for $13.89 billion in sales.

Microsoft said it deferred $1.2 billion in Windows Vista revenue to the third quarter, to account for upgrade coupons given to PC buyers during the holiday season before the consumer launch of the new operating system. Excluding this figure, client revenue totaled $4.1 billion, 30 percent higher than last year.

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said that sales and profit for the quarter "exceeded our expectations," adding that both Vista and Office 2007 "are off to very good starts."

"Client revenue was surprising," said McAdams Wright Ragen analyst Sid Parakh. "They came in pretty nice actually, which might indicate Vista is doing OK," Parakh said.

Is Microsoft a buy opportunity? Many investors seem to think so. They are putting their money where their mouths are. How long will this bull ride will last for Microsoft? Investors have high confidence in Microsoft and their sales of Windows Vista. “For the next few weeks, we might be experiencing some thrill rides for this stock.” 1pennyStock.com

Source: http://www.1pennystock.com/microsoft-earnings.html