Microsoft (MSFT) Q3 earnings report preview: what to look for

What happened

Microsoft will report earnings this Wednesday after the market closes. Last quarter, revenue reached $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year on year, beating analysts' revenue expectations. This quarter, the market expects 16.7% year-on-year revenue growth, slower than the 18.4% increase recorded in the same quarter last year.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Slower expected revenue growth means investors will compare results with the prior year's 18.4% pace. Because Microsoft has a history of exceeding Wall Street expectations, a miss on revenue or profit per share could change how investors value the stock.

Analyst inference

Analysts reconfirmed estimates over the last 30 days, which means they expect the business to stay the course. That leaves little room for a negative surprise: weak revenue or earnings could push investors to sell, while a beat could support the shares.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Microsoft reports earnings on Wednesday after the market closes, so investors will learn whether revenue matched the market's expected 16.7% year-on-year growth. Confirmed
2. Watch whether Microsoft beats analysts' revenue and profit-per-share estimates, because the article says the company has a history of exceeding Wall Street expectations. Proposed
3. Watch for signs that revenue growth is slowing toward the expected 16.7% from last year's 18.4%, which could affect how investors price the stock. Analyst inference

Evidence

• stockstory.org