Microsoft set to report earnings after the bell

Microsoft will report fiscal first-quarter results after market close on Tuesday.

Here’s what analysts are expecting:

• Earnings: $2.30 per share, adjusted, as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $49.61 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Analysts have lowered their estimates in recent weeks because of a decline in PC unit shipments and the stronger U.S. dollar.

Analysts are looking for $49.61 billion in revenue from Microsoft in the fiscal first quarter, which ended on Sept. 30. That would represent 9.5% revenue growth year over year, which would be the slowest growth since 2017. In July, Microsoft’s finance chief, Amy Hood, had told analysts to expect revenue growth to be 2% lower than it otherwise would be because of currency fluctuations.

Technology industry researcher Gartner said earlier this month that PC shipments in the quarter fell 19.5% year over year, and chipmaker AMD earlier this month issued lower-than-expected preliminary quarterly results tied to a “weaker than expected PC market and significant inventory correction actions across the PC supply chain.” A slowing PC market could cause weakness in Microsoft’s revenue from the Windows operating system.

Analysts expect Microsoft’s Azure cloud revenue to grow 36.4% on an annualized basis, compared with 40% growth in the previous quarter, according to a survey of 14 analysts conducted by CNBC. Analysts polled by StreetAccount expect 36.9% Azure growth.

During the quarter, Microsoft started rolling out the first annual update to its Windows 11 operating system since releasing the original version last year, and the company announced plans to slow down its pace of hiring said it was cutting less than 1% of employees. Microsoft also introduced Viva Engage, a portal in the Teams communication app where co-workers can share video stories.

The quarterly results will include small adjustments in the way that Microsoft reports revenue. Revenue from HoloLens augmented-reality devices will appear in the More Personal Computing segment instead of the Intelligent Cloud segment. Microsoft adjusted its forecast for the segments by about $100 million in connection with the change.

Microsoft shares have fallen about 26% so far this year, while the S&P 500 stock index is down almost 20% over the same period.

Executives will discuss the results on a conference call starting at 5:30 p.m. ET.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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