Wall Street analysts forecast that Microsoft (MSFT) will report quarterly earnings of $4.21 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year increase of 15.3%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $87.42 billion, exhibiting an increase of 14.4% compared to the year-ago quarter.
Over the past 30 days, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been adjusted upward by 0.1% to its current level. This demonstrates the covering analysts' collective reassessment of their initial projections during this period.
Prior to a company's earnings release, it is of utmost importance to factor in any revisions made to the earnings projections. These revisions serve as a critical gauge for predicting potential investor behaviors with respect to the stock. Empirical studies consistently reveal a strong link between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.
While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as indicators of quarterly business performance, exploring analysts' projections for specific key metrics can offer valuable insights.
With that in mind, let's delve into the average projections of some Microsoft metrics that are commonly tracked and projected by analysts on Wall Street.
According to the collective judgment of analysts, 'Revenue- More Personal Computing' should come in at $12.04 billion. The estimate points to a change of -10.5% from the year-ago quarter.
Analysts forecast 'Revenue- Intelligent Cloud' to reach $38.12 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +27.6% from the prior-year quarter.
Analysts predict that the 'Revenue- Productivity and Business Processes' will reach $37.16 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +12.2% from the prior-year quarter.
Analysts expect 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services' to come in at $27.42 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +12.8% year over year.
The collective assessment of analysts points to an estimated 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Search and news advertising' of $3.78 billion. The estimate indicates a change of +5.4% from the prior-year quarter.
The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Enterprise and partner service' will likely reach $2.11 billion. The estimate points to a change of +6% from the year-ago quarter.
The consensus estimate for 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Windows and Devices' stands at $3.54 billion. The estimate indicates a year-over-year change of -18.2%.
The average prediction of analysts places 'Revenue by product and service offerings- Server products and cloud services' at $36.05 billion. The estimate suggests a change of +29.3% year over year.
The consensus among analysts is that 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Revenue' will reach 14.2%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 18.0% in the same quarter last year.
Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Intelligent Cloud' should arrive at 27.6%. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of 26.0%.
It is projected by analysts that the 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- More Personal Computing' will reach -10.5%. The estimate is in contrast to the year-ago figure of 9.0%.
Analysts' assessment points toward 'Percentage Change Y/Y (GAAP)- Productivity and Business Processes' reaching 12.2%. Compared to the present estimate, the company reported 16.0% in the same quarter last year.
View all Key Company Metrics for Microsoft here>>>Shares of Microsoft have experienced a change of +8.2% in the past month compared to the +0.6% move of the Zacks S&P 500 composite. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), MSFT is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).