What is Zacks Research’s Forecast for Microsoft Q3 Earnings?

Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Microsoft in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst V. Sawalka now forecasts that the software giant will post earnings of $3.19 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.15. The consensus estimate for Microsoft’s current full-year earnings is $13.08 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Microsoft’s Q4 2025 earnings at $3.31 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.64 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.87 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $14.65 EPS and Q2 2027 earnings at $4.27 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $408.25 on Monday. Microsoft has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $425.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.