What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for Microsoft Q3 Earnings?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Zacks Research increased their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst V. Sawalka now anticipates that the software giant will post earnings of $3.19 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.15. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2025 earnings at $3.31 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.64 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.87 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.65 EPS and Q2 2027 earnings at $4.27 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $404.00 on Monday. Microsoft has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $424.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $423.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,052,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $15,109,000. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $5,220,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 175,742 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $74,075,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $23,182,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.