June 30, 2008 marked the last day of Bill Gates as a full-time Chairman of Microsoft and, at the same time, the end of the company's 2008 fiscal year. On July 17, the Redmond giant announced revenue of over $60.42 billion, representing a jump of 18% from the past FY. In just the fourth fiscal quarter of 2008, the company accounted for total revenue of $15.84 billion and a growth of 18% over Q4 2007. Microsoft touted what it referred to as the fastest annual revenue growth in the past decade. In fact, with a 32% jump in earnings per share, the software company hasn't seen such good results since 1999.

"Delivering $60 billion in annual revenue is an outstanding accomplishment and a testament to the powerful combination of great technology solutions and strong execution by our partners and global sales and marketing teams," commented Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. The Redmond giant posted $22.49 billion in operating income for the whole past fiscal year and $5.68 billion for the last quarter. Diluted earnings per share for FY 2008 were $1.87 with $0.46 for Q4 2008.

"The outlook for fiscal year 2009 is positive given the breadth of our impressive technology portfolio and the expanding collection of online services we are bringing to market," Turner added. Microsoft is estimating total revenue of $67.3 billion to $68.1 billion for the fiscal year 2009, which has debuted on July 1, 2008 and will end on June 30, 2009. The forecast also reveals estimates of $26.3 billion to $26.9 billion for operating income and $2.12 to $2.18 in diluted earnings per share.

"We had a strong finish in the fourth quarter, which capped off an impressive year for the company. We grew revenue 18% for the year with earnings per share significantly outpacing that. Looking forward, despite difficult economic conditions, we will build upon the momentum exiting fiscal year 2008 and expect to deliver another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth in fiscal year 2009," indicated Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft.