What is Zacks Research's Estimate for Microsoft Q1 Earnings?

Key Points

• Zacks Research has increased its Q1 2026 EPS estimate for Microsoft from $3.51 to $3.64, reflecting positive growth expectations for the software giant.
• Several investment firms, including Oppenheimer and Mizuho, have increased their target prices for Microsoft stock, with Oppenheimer raising it from $600 to $630.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, which will be paid to investors of record on August 21, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Microsoft in a research note issued on Wednesday, August 20th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the software giant will post earnings of $3.64 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.51. The consensus estimate for Microsoft's current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft's Q2 2026 earnings at $3.69 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.75 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.91 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.99 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $4.13 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $4.32 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $17.40 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $20.91 EPS.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $504.24 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $505.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $443.45. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 8,850 shares of company stock worth $4,406,512 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant's stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.