Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Earnings Estimates for Microsoft

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has raised their earnings estimates for Microsoft's FY2026 EPS to $15.59, up from a previous forecast of $15.19, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating and a target price of $639.00.
• Several brokerages have also increased their price targets for Microsoft, with BMO Capital Markets raising theirs to $650.00 and TD Cowen to $640.00, reflecting strong market confidence.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly EPS of $3.65, exceeding estimates and posting an 18.1% increase in revenue year-over-year, with a net profit margin of 36.15%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald increased their FY2026 EPS estimates for Microsoft in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst T. Blakey now expects that the software giant will post earnings per share of $15.59 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $15.19. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a "Overweight" rating and a $639.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $9.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $524.11. The stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $489.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Seek First Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.