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Microsoft reports financial results for its second fiscal quarter Thursday, following a first quarter in which it surprised Wall Street with unexpectedly strong results that revived its share price for a while. Among other things, the latest results will provide a sense for how holiday PC and Xbox 360 sales influenced the company's revenues and bottom line.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are expecting revenue of $15.9 billion. On the face of it, that's a whopping 27 percent more than in the same quarter last year -- but the percentage gain is inflated by the fact that more than $1.6 billion in revenues were deferred from that previous quarter due to the Windows Vista delay. Wall Street's consensus for earnings per share is 46 cents, at the top of the 44- to 46-cent range given by Microsoft at the end of the first quarter this year.

If the experiences of Apple and other companies are any guide, investors will be looking closely at Microsoft's earnings forecasts for future quarters to gauge the impact of the economy on the company's business.

See previews by The Associated Press, BloggingStocks, and Reuters.

Check back Thursday afternoon for details.