Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) is heading into its fiscal third-quarter earnings report with what Jefferies describes as a “derisked” setup. The company is expected to post results after markets close on April 30. In premarket trading Monday, shares slipped 0.2%.
Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said he sees the consensus forecast for 11% year-over-year revenue growth, helped by foreign exchange tailwinds, as achievable. Thill added he expects conservative guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter, particularly as tariff concerns resurface. Still, he maintained a Buy rating on Microsoft with a $475 price target, citing an attractive valuation at 24 times estimated 2026 earnings, a discount compared to peers.
Microsoft may benefit from positive trends, including stable commercial cloud momentum from Microsoft 365 and Copilot, moderating capital expenditures, and generally better-than-expected early tech earnings results. However, Thill cautioned that Azure growth could again come in at the lower end of guidance, a trend seen in two of the past three quarters.
Analysts, on average, expect Microsoft to report earnings of $3.22 per share on $68.43 billion in revenue for the fiscal third quarter.
