Wedbush Issues Negative Forecast for Microsoft Earnings

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for Microsoft in a research report issued on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings of $3.54 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $3.59. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $12.89 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2026 earnings at $4.13 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.72.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.95. Microsoft has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Microsoft

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 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.