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Microsoft Posts Big Beat, Visa and eBay Also Report

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Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) blew the doors off earnings estimates after the bell today, posting EPS of 98 cents per share in its fiscal Q4, easily surpassing the 71 cents per share expected in the Zacks consensus estimate. Revenues were also better than expected, albeit less so, putting up $24.7 billion as opposed to the $24.2 billion in our consensus.

Poking into the earnings report a little, Microsoft's Azure revenue growth stands out at +98% year over year. Azure is the company's enterprise cloud-computing platform. Commercial cloud revenues overall came in at $18.9 billion. Productivity revenue rose 21% year over year to $8.4 billion, which was in-line with estimates. Windows PC revenue gained 1%, whereas Surface slipped 2% in the quarter.

Microsoft shares are trading up in the after market today, but currently by less than a full percentage point. Keep in mind this stock has been strong in 2017 -- +19.5% year to date -- as well as year over year -- +38%. Yet at 21x earnings, Microsoft does not appear to be a stock priced for perfection.

Visa (V - Free Report) , however, may just be. The credit card giant is up roughly 25% year to date, and currently trading near all-time highs. The company also beat fiscal Q3 estimates on the top and bottom lines: 86 cents per share versus 80 cents expected, on revenues of $4.57 billion which easily outpaced the $4.36 billion in the Zacks consensus. An impressive 28.5 billion transactions were processed by Visa in the quarter. This marks at least the fifth-straight earnings beat for Visa.

Finally, eBay (EBAY - Free Report) shows mixed Q2 results after the bell today. Earnings of 34 cents per share (accounting for stock-based employee compensation and other before nonrecurring items) missed the Zacks consensus of 36 cents. But $2.33 billion in sales was marginally better than the $2.31 billion expected. But Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) came in at $20.5 billion, notably beneath the $21.4 billion analysts had been looking for. The company also reduced Q3 EPS guidance, and shares in late trading are currently down 3%.


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