Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O , with its global dominance in PC software, is sometimes said to have a license to print money.
But Microsoft might find it tougher to deploy its cash hoard of $49 billion.
When it released fiscal-year 2003 results last Thursday, Microsoft said it added $2.9 billion of cash in the quarter ended June 30. It earned $689 million from investments, nearly one-third of its pre-tax income, according to its fiscal fourth-quarter income statement. And on its balance sheet, Microsoft reported $13.7 billion in equity and other investments for the period ended June 30, 2003.
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