Company Update (NASDAQ:MSFT): Other than cloud, look for this on MSFT earnings

[at CNBC] – Investors will zero in on Microsoft’s cloud business when dissecting its earnings, but they will also keep an eye out for two other factors. Read more on this. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) , valued at $417.69B, began trading this morning at $51.55. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $51.26 to $52.33 with a trailing 52-week range being $39.72 to $56.85. Microsoft (MSFT) shares are currently priced at 18.29x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 12.46x earnings multiple for the same period. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.44 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.85%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 27 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.71 per share, which would be $0.00 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $2.76 is a $0.30 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $25.26 Billion. If reported, that would be a 4.57% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded MSFT from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Jan 13, 2016). Previously, BMO Capital Markets Initiated MSFT at to Outperform. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $58.00, which is 12.51% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:MSFT) Similar Articles: Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Cloud services bolster Microsoft results, shares soar Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Buy Microsoft Before Q1 Earnings: FBR Company Update: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) – Windows 10 is a big test for Nadella’s mobile, cloud vision (Video)