Wall Street analysts expect Microsoft Corp. to post sizable increases in revenue and profit when it discloses results for its fourth quarter and 2004 fiscal year later this week. But given the timing, much of the focus will be on a different figure: the company's cash. Microsoft executives have said they will announce a plan for the cash pile -- which had grown to more than $56 billion at the end of the third quarter -- during or sometime before a meeting with analysts July 29 on Microsoft's Redmond campus. Whether that announcement comes this week or next, the cash is sure to be a central topic Thursday, when the company releases its financial results.
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