Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams. The company also operates LinkedIn, provides enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software through Dynamics, and offers GitHub, a platform for software development and collaboration. Its artificial intelligence products include Copilot features integrated across several of its software and cloud offerings.

Through its Azure platform, Microsoft provides cloud computing, data storage, analytics, cybersecurity, database, artificial intelligence and developer services. The company also sells Windows licenses, Surface devices and related accessories, as well as search and digital advertising services through Bing and other products. Its gaming business includes Xbox consoles, accessories, first-party game development and distribution, Game Pass subscriptions, and the Activision Blizzard portfolio following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023.

Microsoft operates across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Satya Nadella has served as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2014, overseeing its expansion from a primarily software-focused business into a broad provider of cloud computing, enterprise technology, artificial intelligence and consumer services.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $513.66 to $522.50
• 50-Day Range: $389.10 to $517.53
• 52-Week Range: $349.20 to $553.72
• Volume: 17.28 million shs
• Average Volume: 20.36 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.84 trillion
• P/E Ratio: 28.82
• Dividend Yield: 0.70%
• Price Target: $571.18
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Microsoft Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Microsoft scored higher than 98% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 14th out of 593 stocks in the technology sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Microsoft has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.88, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 43 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Upside Potential

Microsoft has a consensus price target of $571.18, representing about 10.4% upside from its current price of $517.53.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Microsoft has been the subject of 35 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 18.45%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Microsoft are expected to grow by 18.45% in the coming year, from $19.62 to $23.24 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Microsoft is 28.82, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.60.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Microsoft is 28.82, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Technology sector average P/E ratio of about 81.31.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Microsoft has a PEG Ratio of 1.65. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Microsoft has a P/B Ratio of 8.69. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

0.91% of the float of Microsoft has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Microsoft has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.73, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Microsoft has recently decreased by 9.54%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Microsoft has a dividend yield of 0.71%, which is in the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Microsoft has been increasing its dividend for 23 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Microsoft is 20.27%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Microsoft will have a dividend payout ratio of 15.66% next year. This indicates that Microsoft will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.97

News Sentiment

Microsoft has a news sentiment score of 0.97. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.51 average news sentiment score of Technology companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 273 news articles for Microsoft this week, compared to 12 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 429 people have searched for MSFT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -19% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

363 people have added Microsoft to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 31% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Microsoft insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $71,420,699.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.03% of the stock of Microsoft is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

71.13% of the stock of Microsoft is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/29/2026
• Record date for 9/10 Dividend: 8/20/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/10 Dividend: 8/20/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/10/2026
• Today: 10/03/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/28/2026
• AGM 2026: 12/08/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 6/30/2027

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Technology
• Industry: Software
• Sub-Industry: Systems Software
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:MSFT
• CIK: 789019
• Web: www.microsoft.com
• Phone: (425) 882-8080
• Fax: 425-706-7329
• Employees: 223,000
• Year Founded: 1975

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Microsoft: $571.18
• High Price Target: $870.00
• Low Price Target: $430.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +10.4%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.88
• Research Coverage: 48 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $17.96
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 28.82
• Forward P/E Ratio: 26.38
• P/E Growth: 1.65
• Net Income: $133.75 billion
• Net Margins: 40.31%
• Pretax Margin: 50.00%
• Return on Equity: 31.98%
• Return on Assets: 18.70%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.07
• Current Ratio: 1.23
• Quick Ratio: 1.22

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $331.84 billion
• Price / Sales: 11.58
• Cash Flow: $22.74 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 22.76
• Book Value: $59.58 per share
• Price / Book: 8.69

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 7,425,550,000
• Free Float: 7,423,318,000
• Market Cap: $3.84 trillion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.10