Microsoft Corp Q4 2026 earnings preview

When will Microsoft report its latest earnings?

Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to release its  fourth quarter (Q4)2026 results after the United States (US) market close on Thursday, 30 July 2026 at 6.00am AEST.

Highlights from the previous quarter

Microsoft came into this quarter riding strong momentum from the third quarter (Q3), where it once again beat at both the top and bottom lines.

• Revenue came in at $82.9 billion, up 18% year-on-year (YoY), beating expectations of $81.39 billion
• Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) hit $4.27, ahead of the $4.06 consensus.

But the real highlight was the continued surge in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud:

• Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $54.5 billion (+29% YoY)
• Azure and other cloud services grew 40% (constant currency)
• Copilot paid seats surpassed 20 million, up more than 250% YoY.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft's Chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), said 'Our results this quarter reflect the growing demand for cloud and AI solutions, and our ability to deliver value to our customers.'

Despite the strong numbers, Microsoft's share price finished 3.93% lower at $407.78 the following session. Investors appeared to focus more on Microsoft's eye-watering ~$190 billion capital expenditure (capex) guidance for calendar 2026, well above expectations – driven in part by soaring memory and component costs

Summary of Microsoft's fiscal year (FY) 2026 Q3 results

Within the details, Microsoft reported the following segment highlights in Q3:

• Intelligent Cloud revenue reached $34.7 billion, up 30% YoY. Azure and other cloud services grew a robust 40% (constant currency), continuing to benefit from strong AI demand
• Productivity and Business Processes revenue totalled $35 billion, rising 17% YoY. Office 365 Commercial cloud revenue grew 19%, while Microsoft 365 Consumer cloud surged 33%
• More Personal Computing revenue was $13.2 billion, slightly down YoY as hardware softness was partly offset by Search advertising.

Intelligent Cloud highlights chart

What to look for in Q4 2026?

In its Q3 earnings call, Microsoft provided Q4 revenue guidance of $86.7 – $87.8 billion. The market according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is looking for EPS of $4.24.

FY2026 Q4 outlook

Key areas of focus in the upcoming earnings release

• Azure momentum and capacity: can Microsoft deliver another ~40% growth quarter, or will supply constraints continue to limit upside?
• Capex and return on investment (ROI) visibility: with ~$190 billion planned for calendar 2026, investors want reassurance that these massive AI infrastructure investments are on track to deliver strong, sustainable returns.
• Copilot adoption and monetisation: Any fresh updates on seat growth, usage trends, and how quickly it's contributing to revenue.
• Margin trends: AI-related costs continue to pressure cloud gross margins. How much of a headwind will this be, and when might we see stabilisation?
• FY2027 tone: early commentary on next year's outlook will be closely watched, especially around AI demand versus spending levels.

Microsoft's revenue chart

Microsoft analyst rating

Microsoft has a TipRanks Smart Score of '5 neutral' and is rated as a 'buy' by analysts with 35 'buy', 1 'hold' and 0 'sell' recommendations – as of 21 July 2026.

Microsoft TipRanks Smart Score chart

Microsoft technical analysis

Microsoft has been in a broader corrective phase since hitting all-time highs near $555 in mid-2025 – trading some 12.65% below where it started this year. The decline this year comes after three straight years of gains.

In late June, the stock broke below its late-March swing low of $356.51, before finding support at $349.20 – near the $344.79 Liberation Day 2025 low and the $349.67 high from November 2021.

The bounce from this support zone now has enabled the stock to reclaim the longer-term 200-week moving average (MA), which has negated some of the downside risks.

Microsoft weekly chart

Drilling down onto the daily chart, if Microsoft can hold above horizontal support in the $349 - $345 area, and deliver a strong earnings report, it has room to push towards the 200-day MA at $438.77 and potentially the 1 June $466.32 high.

Conversely, if the company's earnings report disappoints and it triggers a sustained break of support in the $349 - $345 area, it would open the way for a deeper decline towards $280.

Microsoft daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 21 July 2026 Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This report does not contain and is not to be taken as containing any financial product advice or financial product recommendation.}