As the wind-up act for the Financial Analyst Day at Microsoft today, its CFO, Chris Liddell, took the stage to try to put a shine on weak financial results that the software giant recently reported.

“So, what genetic disposition do you need to be a CFO? Essentially, you need to be miserable, you need to be the sort of person who takes drinks away from people at the end of a party,” said Liddell, in his jaunty New Zealand-Hobbit accent. “So, you know, my colleagues who have been giving you drinks all day, have told me to come out here and take most of them away from you.”

Which was ironic, since the all-day event for media and Wall Street analysts ended with cocktails.

Read More »

Isn’t it ironic that Yahoo once employed–and for a very long time–top search techie Qi Lu and here he was on stage at the Financial Analyst Meeting at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Wash., after having just scooped up that business for the software giant.

Lu, who is now president of the Online Services division at Microsoft, was not generous with the details, although he did say making the partnership work was his No. 2 priority after Microsoft’s own search business.

Read More »

First up at Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting today, as you might imagine, is CEO Steve Ballmer, who is as bouncy and braggy as I have ever seen him, probably because he is fresh from getting his mitts on a long-sought-after prize–the search business of Yahoo.

But, while Wall Street thinks Microsoft made out well in the deal, the opinion about Yahoo’s side of the deal has been not so positive, with its shares down another five percent today already, after plummeting 12 percent yesterday.

Thus, Ballmer to the rescue!

“This is the one that stuns me, that people haven’t figured it out,” said Ballmer. “It’s sort of, like, unbelievable.”

Read More »

The fun never stops at Microsoft, it seems.

Well, not fun–more like a long march of khaki-clad Softies.

They will be on display bright and early this morning at the company’s annual Financial Analyst Meeting, a cavalcade of top execs at the tech giant blabbing away.

Big topics? I am interested in the recent billion-dollar revenue miss in earnings and, of course, more details about the Yahoo search deal.

BoomTown will be there covering it in person, natch!

Read More »

When Time Warner reports its second -quarter earnings tomorrow morning, before the markets open, most Wall Street analysts are not expecting much from the media giant, as it continues to slog toward a rejiggering of itself.

Time Warner–which owns assets like the Warner Bros. movie studio, the AOL online unit, the HBO and Turner cable networks and Time Inc. magazines–is expected to earn 37 cents per share, compared to 72 cents a year ago, according to a poll of analysts from Thomson Reuters.

Revenue is expected to be $6.97 billion, down from $11.56 billion in the same quarter last year. This drop is mostly due to the March spinoff of its cable unit, Time Warner Cable.

But AOL and its magazine unit are expected to continue to drag on Time Warner’s financial performance.

Read More »

How low can Microsoft go?

Very low, it seems, in announcing really bad fourth-quarter earnings, missing Wall Street revenue estimates by an astonishing $1 billion.

Talk about a game of extreme limbo.

No surprise–Microsoft shares have been taking a beating in after-hours trading.

BoomTown liveblogged the earnings call.

Read More »

If there’s an earnings call at Yahoo, you know BoomTown is going to liveblog it!

Will Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz say something naughty? (Nope!) What is new CFO Tim Morse like? (Nice!) Will they say anything about the talks with Microsoft about a search and online advertising partnership? (No!)

Oh, it might be a corker!

The earnings results for the second quarter certainly were not.

Here’s the conference call, updated as it happened.

Read More »

Yahoo reported so-so second-quarter earnings results today, with a decline in revenue, but with a slightly stronger-than-expected improvement in net income.

For the three months ended June 30, the Internet giant said it had revenue of $1.14 billion, excluding traffic-acquisition costs, down from $1.35 billion in the same period a year ago.

Profit was up eight percent, due to cost-cutting. Yahoo said it earned $141.4 million, or 10 cents a share, in the quarter, compared to $131.2 million, or nine cents.

But that’s not really saying much since Wall Street analysts had such low expectations, estimating Yahoo would earn eight cents. But, with a weak advertising market, it is also not that bad.

Read More »

Yahoo and Microsoft are still seriously talking about a search and partnership deal, never-ending discussions that might or might not come to fruition. But most investors will be focused on real results this week, as both tech giants report quarterly earnings.

Yahoo reports tomorrow, while Microsoft clocks in Thursday.

But, after a ho-hum performance last week from Google, Wall Street is not expecting much from either, as the econalypse continues to take its toll on financial performance.

Read More »

Almost two years ago, just as Web 2.0 was heating up, BoomTown did a video interview with Slide founder and CEO Max Levchin.

Soon after, the popular maker of widgets and other social networking applications grabbed a big pile of cash from new investors, which put the value of the company at $550 million.

But that was before the recession hit, as well as a generally more sober outlook for a lot of high-flying Silicon Valley darlings like Slide, which have had to wise up a little and get down to business.

So, it was time for another chat with Levchin to find out what’s what.

Read More »

Two years ago, Index Ventures was part of a group that invested $45 million in Joost, the then-hot-and-hyped online video service, while bringing on well-known tech exec Mike Volpi as CEO.

Now, he is headed to Index as a partner in the venture firm, in what some might think is an ironic move.

That’s because last week, after much effort to get traction for Joost, Volpi announced that the service was undergoing a major shakeout–drastically cutting staff and shifting its business model and strategy.

Read More »

It’s finally official: Marc Andreessen has crossed over to what he once called “the dark side” and is now a venture capitalist.

Several weeks ago, BoomTown broke the news that the Silicon Valley legend and serial entrepreneur and his longtime investing partner, Ben Horowitz, had completed the raising of $300 million for a new venture fund.

And, indeed, the new firm–which is made up of just the two–is now launched and called Andreessen Horowitz.

Of course, I had done a video interview with Andreessen with my Flip.

Read More »

As President and CEO of Nokia, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo runs the world’s largest mobile phone maker, a hard won and enviable position. But new rivals like Apple and Research in Motion are gaining market share with innovative touchscreens and apps, features that Nokia has been late to the smartphone party with.

Kallasvuo talks about all this and more in an interview with Walt Mossberg at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference.

Read More »

This week’s viral video is for filmmaker Michael Moore’s latest, which takes direct aim at the banking bailout.

Called “Save Our CEOs,” the teaser notes: “This time it’s personal.”

Well, Moore is always personal, so slapping around Wall Street and the politicians responsible for the econalypse should be interesting, to say the least.

Read More »

Even in the midst of a tough investing environment, Silicon Valley legend and serial entrepreneur Marc Andreessen and his longtime investing partner, Ben Horowitz, have completed the raising of his new venture fund, according to the numerous sources close to the situation, and it is oversubscribed.

Sources said the fund–which was nicknamed “Project A,” but is actually called Andreessen Horowitz–will be $300 million. It is $50 million over the $250 million he and Horowitz had planned.

Read More »