Yahoo Finance Microsoft (MSFT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $249.20, marking a +0.13% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.2% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.14%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.12%.
Heading into today, shares of the software maker had lost 1.73% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.64% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.29% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Microsoft as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Microsoft to post earnings of $2.31 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 1.76%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $49.71 billion, up 9.69% from the year-ago period.
MSFT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $10.06 per share and revenue of $219.26 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +9.23% and +10.59%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Microsoft. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% lower. Microsoft currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Microsoft is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 24.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 23.21, which means Microsoft is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, MSFT's PEG ratio is currently 2.11. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Computer - Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.04 at yesterday's closing price.
The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, which puts it in the top 39% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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