Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17, FiscalAI reports. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $531.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,566,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,436,000. Microsoft has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $551.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $510.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $437.69.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly optimistic ahead of the report. Consensus expectations call for approximately $4.72 in earnings per share and $90.7 billion in revenue, representing roughly 17% year-over-year growth. Several analysts have maintained Buy or Outperform ratings, while Truist upgraded the stock. Microsoft analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure business is reportedly approaching or exceeding $100 billion in annual revenue, while its contracted backlog has reached approximately $678 billion. Investors see these figures as evidence of strong long-term demand for cloud and AI capacity. Microsoft contracted backlog
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic has reportedly committed to spend at least $45 billion on Microsoft cloud infrastructure over seven years, potentially providing significant future Azure demand and supporting Microsoft’s AI ecosystem. Anthropic Microsoft cloud commitment
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings release will disclose Azure revenue in dollar terms for the first time, giving investors a clearer measure of cloud scale. Options markets imply a roughly 5% post-earnings move, highlighting elevated volatility risk. Microsoft earnings report preview
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is spending heavily—potentially up to $175 billion to $190 billion in 2026—on AI data centers and related infrastructure. Investors want proof that revenue is scaling quickly enough to protect margins and generate attractive returns on that capital.
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s offer of voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees has raised concerns that Microsoft is restructuring aggressively to control costs and fund its AI push. Although lower headcount could improve efficiency, the scale of the program may signal pressure from rising infrastructure expenses. Microsoft buyout program
• Negative Sentiment: Higher interest rates pose an additional risk to Microsoft’s premium valuation and to the broader AI trade, as rising financing costs can compress technology multiples. The Federal Reserve’s policy decision is therefore another near-term catalyst for MSFT.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Forty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.07.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.