Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Estimate for Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Equities researchers at Wedbush dropped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Microsoft in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings per share of $12.89 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $13.19. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2025 earnings at $3.15 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.44 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.58 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.80 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $14.40 EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Loop Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.83.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $385.73 on Monday. Microsoft has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $390.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 389.2% during the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after purchasing an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

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.