Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) closed Wednesday’s session down 1.41% at $383.34 per share. That decline outpaced the broader market’s more modest pullback across major indexes.
The S&P 500 slipped just 0.28% on the same trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell further, dropping 1.09%, while the Nasdaq composite actually gained 0.2%.
Microsoft shares have now depreciated 3.61% over the past thirty days. That drop underperforms the Computer and Technology sector’s smaller 1.22% loss during the same stretch.
The broader S&P 500 index, by comparison, has posted a 1.64% gain across that same monthly window. Microsoft’s relative weakness stands out against otherwise positive market conditions.
Investors are now turning their attention toward the company’s upcoming earnings report. Analysts expect Microsoft to post earnings of $4.21 per share for the period.
That projected figure would represent year over year growth of 15.34% if the estimate holds. Revenue expectations sit at $87.44 billion, marking a 14.39% increase from last year.
Full year Zacks Consensus Estimates currently call for earnings of $17.33 per share. Projected revenue for the full year stands at $329.26 billion for the company.
Those annual figures would mark year over year changes of 27.05% in earnings, as reported by iBusiness.News. Revenue growth is expected to reach 16.87% compared to the prior fiscal year.
Over the past thirty days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate ticked up slightly. The consensus figure rose by just 0.02%, reflecting largely stable analyst sentiment.
Microsoft currently holds a Zacks Rank of 3, which corresponds to a Hold rating. The Zacks Rank system evaluates stocks from 1, or Strong Buy, through 5.
From a valuation standpoint, Microsoft trades at a forward price to earnings ratio of 20.16. That figure sits above the broader industry’s average forward P/E of 16.55.
The company’s PEG ratio currently stands at 1.22, a metric that factors in expected earnings growth. The Computer Software industry’s average PEG ratio was 1.27 as of yesterday’s close.
That industry belongs to the wider Computer and Technology sector tracked by Zacks Investment Research. The sector currently holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 103 among more than 250 groups.
That ranking places the industry in the top 42% of all tracked sectors. Historically, higher ranked industries have tended to outperform their lower ranked counterparts by a wide margin.
Analyst estimate revisions remain closely watched as indicators of near term share price momentum. Positive revisions typically signal growing confidence in a company’s underlying business health and profitability outlook.
