What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for Microsoft Q2 Earnings?

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Tuesday, November 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $3.84 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.69. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q3 2026 earnings at $3.67 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.87 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $15.51 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.15 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $4.34 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $4.31 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $4.68 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $17.47 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $4.88 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $20.97 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson set a $650.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Melius Research boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.7%

MSFT opened at $493.79 on Wednesday. Microsoft has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $514.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $498.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q2 2026 guidance at EPS.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.