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Time to Buy Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) Stock for More Upside
It’s been just over a week since Microsoft reported its fiscal second quarter results with Q2 earnings of $2.93 a share topping the Zacks Consensus by 6% and sales of $62.02 billion beating estimates by over 1%.
Although Microsoft’s stock performance has been virtually flat since eclipsing its Q2 top and bottom-line expectations, brokers are high on the software giant's outlook.
Growth & Recent Performance
It may have been easier to miss Microsoft’s Q2 report with many of its Magnificent Seven peers reporting their quarterly results last week as well including the likes of Amazon, Apple and Meta Platforms.
With that being said, Microsoft’s Q2 earnings did jump 26% year over year with quarterly sales rising 17%. Microsoft’s growth has been fueled by its cloud services and annual earnings are now projected to rise 18% in fiscal 2024 to $11.60 per share with total sales forecasted to climb 15% to $243.38 billion.
Microsoft’s stock is still up +54% over the last year and anticipation of double-digit EPS and sales growth in FY25 as well should keep investors engaged.
Making a stronger case for buying Microsoft’s stock is that earning estimates for FY24 and FY25 are nicely up over the last 30 days and have risen 3% in the last week respectively.
Microsoft currently has an average broker rating (ABR) of 1.14 on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell). To that point, 33 out of the 37 brokers covering Microsoft's stock and providing data to Zacks have strong buy ratings with three having buy ratings and only one at a hold.
Bottom Line
There does appear to be more room to run for Microsoft’s stock with the Average Zacks Price Target of $438.97 a share suggesting 8% upside. Notably, Microsoft’s stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in correlation with the trend of positive earnings estimate revisions following the company’s favorable Q2 results.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Meta Platforms
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 8, 2024 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) , Apple (AAPL - Free Report) and Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) .
Time to Buy Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) Stock for More Upside
It’s been just over a week since Microsoft reported its fiscal second quarter results with Q2 earnings of $2.93 a share topping the Zacks Consensus by 6% and sales of $62.02 billion beating estimates by over 1%.
Although Microsoft’s stock performance has been virtually flat since eclipsing its Q2 top and bottom-line expectations, brokers are high on the software giant's outlook.
Growth & Recent Performance
It may have been easier to miss Microsoft’s Q2 report with many of its Magnificent Seven peers reporting their quarterly results last week as well including the likes of Amazon, Apple and Meta Platforms.
With that being said, Microsoft’s Q2 earnings did jump 26% year over year with quarterly sales rising 17%. Microsoft’s growth has been fueled by its cloud services and annual earnings are now projected to rise 18% in fiscal 2024 to $11.60 per share with total sales forecasted to climb 15% to $243.38 billion.
Microsoft’s stock is still up +54% over the last year and anticipation of double-digit EPS and sales growth in FY25 as well should keep investors engaged.
Earnings Estimate Revisions & Broker Recommendations
Making a stronger case for buying Microsoft’s stock is that earning estimates for FY24 and FY25 are nicely up over the last 30 days and have risen 3% in the last week respectively.
Microsoft currently has an average broker rating (ABR) of 1.14 on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell). To that point, 33 out of the 37 brokers covering Microsoft's stock and providing data to Zacks have strong buy ratings with three having buy ratings and only one at a hold.
Bottom Line
There does appear to be more room to run for Microsoft’s stock with the Average Zacks Price Target of $438.97 a share suggesting 8% upside. Notably, Microsoft’s stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) in correlation with the trend of positive earnings estimate revisions following the company’s favorable Q2 results.
Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.0 average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +44.9%, +48.4% and +55.2% per year.
Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.
See Stocks Free >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.