Microsoft Corp’s quarterly profit beat Wall Street expectations on Thursday, driven by sales of server software and Xbox 360 game consoles, and the company raised its full-year profit target.Shares of the world’s largest software maker rose nearly 2 per cent in after-hours trade to $31.02, approaching a year high touched earlier this month.Microsoft posted a 28 per cent drop in fiscal second-quarter earnings as it deferred more than $1 billion in net income related to the consumer launch of its Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 software due next week.Those businesses account for most of its profit, and investors expect the new products to drive sales and earnings in the coming quarters.“We think the company is in great shape,” said Kim Caughey, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital, which manages more than $1 billion and holds Microsoft stock. “We’re expecting the next couple of years for Microsoft to really hit its stride in terms of cash generation.”Net profit in its second quarter ended December 31 totaled $2.63 billion, or 26 cents per diluted share, compared with $3.65 billion, or 34 cents per diluted share, a year ago. Second-quarter sales rose 6 percent to $12.54 billion.Analysts, on average, had expected Microsoft to report earnings per share of 23 cents on sales of $12.09 billion in the quarter.
