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Forbes Earnings Preview: Microsoft

This article is more than 10 years old.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) have climbed 10.8% over the last three months to close at $31.08 on April 16, 2012. The company is looking to keep that trend going when it releases its third quarter results on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

What to Expect:

The consensus estimate is 57 cents per share, up 1.8% from a year ago when Microsoft reported earnings of 56 cents per share.

The consensus estimate has fallen over the past three months, from 60 cents. For the fiscal year, analysts are projecting earnings of $2.69 per share.

Revenue is projected to be $17.18 billion for the quarter, 4.6% above the year-earlier total of $16.43 billion. For the year, revenue is projected to come in at $73.95 billion.

Trends to Watch For:

The fall in profit in the second quarter broke a three-quarter streak of year-over-year profit growth. Net income fell 0.2% in the second quarter from the year earlier, while the figure rose 6.1% in the first quarter, 30% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 30.6% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings:

The majority of analysts (63%) rate Microsoft as a buy. This compares favorably to the analyst ratings of its nearest 10 competitors, which average 59.2% buys. Analysts have become more cautious about the stock in the last three months.

Competitors:

Microsoft develops and supports software products and services for various computing devices. One of Microsoft's main competitors in the software industry, Oracle (ORCL), will report earnings on May 23, 2012. Other competitors in the information technology sector include: Google (GOOG), International Business Machines (IBM), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.

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