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Microsoft (MSFT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $113.21, moving +1.12% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.76%.
Heading into today, shares of the software maker had gained 4.93% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.87% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.53% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MSFT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 25, 2018. In that report, analysts expect MSFT to post earnings of $0.96 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 14.29%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $27.83 billion, up 13.4% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.25 per share and revenue of $122.36 billion, which would represent changes of +9.54% and +10.88%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MSFT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. MSFT is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, MSFT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 26.41. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 36.31.
We can also see that MSFT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Computer - Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.25 at yesterday's closing price.
The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, which puts it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Microsoft (MSFT) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $113.21, moving +1.12% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.76%.
Heading into today, shares of the software maker had gained 4.93% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.87% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.53% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MSFT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 25, 2018. In that report, analysts expect MSFT to post earnings of $0.96 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 14.29%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $27.83 billion, up 13.4% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.25 per share and revenue of $122.36 billion, which would represent changes of +9.54% and +10.88%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MSFT. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. MSFT is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, MSFT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 26.41. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 36.31.
We can also see that MSFT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Computer - Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.25 at yesterday's closing price.
The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 55, which puts it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.