Microsoft (MSFT) Q1 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates

Although the revenue and EPS for Microsoft (MSFT) give a sense of how its business performed in the quarter ended September 2024, it might be worth considering how some key metrics compare with Wall Street estimates and the year-ago numbers. Read More...

For the quarter ended September 2024, Microsoft (MSFT) reported revenue of $65.59 billion, up 16% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $3.30, compared to $2.99 in the year-ago quarter.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $64.41 billion, representing a surprise of +1.82%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +7.14%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $3.08.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers — revenue and earnings — and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company’s underlying performance.

As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock’s price performance more accurately.

Here is how Microsoft performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Percentage Change in Revenue Y/Y: 16% versus the 10-analyst average estimate of 13.9%.
Productivity and Business Processes – Percentage Change in Revenue Y/Y: 12% versus 10.5% estimated by nine analysts on average.
Intelligent Cloud – Percentage Change in Revenue Y/Y: 20% versus the nine-analyst average estimate of 18.7%.
More Personal Computing – Percentage Change in Revenue Y/Y: 17% versus 10.6% estimated by nine analysts on average.
Revenue- More Personal Computing: $13.18 billion versus $14.44 billion estimated by 11 analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -3.6% change.
Revenue- Intelligent Cloud: $24.09 billion compared to the $27.45 billion average estimate based on 11 analysts. The reported number represents a change of -0.7% year over year.
Revenue- Productivity and Business Processes: $28.32 billion versus the 11-analyst average estimate of $22.49 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +52.3%.
Productivity and Business Processes- Linkedin Revenue: $4.29 billion versus $4.24 billion estimated by six analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +9.7% change.
More Personal Computing- Revenue from Gaming: $5.62 billion versus the six-analyst average estimate of $5.18 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +43.4%.
More Personal Computing- Search and news advertising: $3.23 billion versus $3.39 billion estimated by five analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +5.6% change.
Intelligent Cloud- Enterprise Services and partner service: $1.93 billion versus the five-analyst average estimate of $1.89 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -0.8%.
Intelligent Cloud- Revenue from Server products and cloud services: $22.16 billion compared to the $26.77 billion average estimate based on five analysts. The reported number represents a change of -0.7% year over year.