Zacks Research Comments on Microsoft Co.'s Q1 2025 Earnings (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Microsoft in a research note issued on Tuesday, August 20th. Zacks Research analyst V. Sawalka now anticipates that the software giant will post earnings of $3.08 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.07. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $13.04 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q2 2025 earnings at $3.19 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.20 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.35 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $12.82 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.43 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.66 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.71 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.93 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.73 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $17.53 EPS.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $494.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $8.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $415.55. 18,140,211 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,909,693. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $435.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $422.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.