REDMOND, Wash. (AP) — A flopped acquisition may lump Microsoft with the first loss in its 26-year history as a public company when the software maker releases its latest quarterly results Thursday.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The fiscal fourth-quarter numbers, due out after the stock market closes, will include a $6.2 billion charge to reflect that Microsoft’s 2007 acquisition of online ad service aQuantive hasn’t yielded the returns envisioned by management.