MSFT Shares Slide After-Hours Following Top- And Bottom-Line Beats… Here’s Why

Microsoft beat top and bottom lines in Q2 but shares are sliding after hours.

• 4Q revenue $38.03 billion, (+13% y/y), estimate $36.54 billion (range $35.75 billion to $37.21 billion)

• 4Q EPS $1.46 vs. $1.71 y/y (-15% GAAP), estimate $1.36 (range $1.31 to $1.51)

“The last five months have made it clear that tech intensity is the key to business resilience. Organizations that build their own digital capability will recover faster and emerge from this crisis stronger,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft.

“We are the only company with an integrated, modern technology stack – powered by cloud and AI and underpinned by security and compliance – to help every organization transform and reimagine how they meet customer needs.”

Despite the beat, MSFT shares are down 2% after hours…

The only things we can find for now that may spooked investors a little is that, despite the world being on lockdown and staring at their screens, search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs decreased 18% (down 17% in constant currency).

Additionally, revenue for Microsoft’s “Productivity and Business Processes” business unit, which includes Office products for businesses and customers, LinkedIn revenue and Dynamics products and cloud services, reached $11.75 billion, missing estimates of $11.9 billion.

Microsoft’s internet-based computing services Azure revenue rose 47% in the fourth quarter, slightly missing analysts’ predictions for a 49% gain.

No outlook in the presentation.