Yahoo Finance Microsoft (MSFT) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $108.59, marking a +0.93% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.04%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.16%.
Heading into today, shares of the software maker had gained 0.67% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.01% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.99% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from MSFT as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.09, up 13.54% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $32.46 billion, up 12.24% from the year-ago period.
MSFT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.43 per share and revenue of $124.08 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +14.18% and +12.43%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MSFT. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 has moved 0.38% higher. MSFT is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Investors should also note MSFT's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 24.31. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 29.86, which means MSFT is trading at a discount to the group.
We can also see that MSFT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95. 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 2.1 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 87, which puts it in the top 34% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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