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Microsoft Corporation
Rule-based classification of fundamentals against the sector. Not a price forecast and not investment advice.
Strong business, valuation above the sector
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3 of 5 met · composite in line with peers
Business quality, valuation against the sector, and position in the 52-week range — whether they line up or not.
Stable quality
Profitability
4/4
Debt & liquidity
2/3
Efficiency
0/2
Operating margin at 46.8% runs +60% above the sector median of 29.2%, and Debt/EBITDA of 0.2× sits -82% below the sector median of 0.9× — a balance sheet that carries little structural strain relative to peers. The F-Score of 6/9 reflects full marks on profitability but zero on efficiency, a gap worth watching as FCF growth year over year of -4.6% trails the sector median of 28.2% by -116%. EV/EBITDA at 20.0× is -40% below the sector median of 33.2×, which is a more measured read on valuation than the P/E alone suggests. The beat rate over eight quarters is strong, and the realized three-year EPS CAGR per SEC filings aligns with what analysts model — a less common outcome given the systematic optimism that tends to inflate consensus forecasts.
| Ticker | Name | F-Score | ROE | Revenue YoY | Op. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple | 8/9 | 171% | +6% |
Quarter-by-quarter classification · a retrospective read by the current logic · not a price forecast
Rule-based classification of fundamentals against the sector. Not a price forecast and not investment advice. The method did not see these quarters in real time; this is the current logic applied to past reports.
The market prices in earnings growth; analyst sentiment is steady; has mostly beaten consensus.
Price against next year's expected earnings. The forward P/E already carries analyst optimism — read it alongside the “Versus consensus” line.
A forward P/E below the current one means the market expects earnings to grow; above it, to fall. The historical growth is realized figures from SEC filings, not a forecast.
The three-month change in the share of positive analyst ratings. This is sentiment, not an earnings-estimate revision, and not a call to act.
When results land on 2026-10-27, focus on free cash flow growth year over year — currently 116% below the sector median at 28.2%. Check whether capital expenditure trends (notably data-center build-out) are compressing FCF or whether operating margin of 29.2% is translating into stronger cash conversion.
Pull the most recent 10-K on SEC EDGAR and read the Management Discussion section for commentary on cloud segment margins and capital allocation. The efficiency sub-score of 0/2 on the F-Score flags that asset turnover and revenue growth signals are lagging — management's own disclosures will clarify whether that reflects investment cycles or structural pressure.
From the alphabetical same-sector table in section 06, pick two or three companies yourself and line up one metric — EV/EBITDA, for instance, where MSFT sits at 33.2×, or operating margin at 29.2%. No company in the table is ranked; the exercise is to place MSFT's figures in a broader peer context you find relevant.
Steps you can check yourself, based on the figures in this brief.
Piotroski F-Score: nine binary tests of financial strength from the annual report. A ✓ marks a test passed, a dot (·) a test failed.
Over 4 years: -9%+25%-3%-6%
Over 4 years: 0.420.340.270.16
Over 4 years: +7%+16%+15%+18%
The context on the right shows how each figure compares with the sector median. The trend below tracks the change over recent fiscal years.
Beat consensus in 8 of 8 recent quarters — the company clears estimates regularly (consensus is often set conservatively).
Last quarter's EPS against consensus, plus the estimated date of the next report.
| 32% |
| ACN | Accenture | 4/9 | 26% | +7% | 15% |
| ADBE | Adobe | 7/9 | 55% | +11% | 37% |
| AMAT | Applied Materials | 6/9 | 36% | +4% | 29% |
| AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | 7/9 | 7% | +34% | 11% |
| AVGO | Broadcom | 7/9 | 43% | +24% | 40% |
| CRM | Salesforce | 7/9 | 12% | +10% | 20% |
| CSCO | Cisco | 8/9 | 22% | +5% | 21% |
| IBM | IBM | 6/9 | 35% | +8% | — |
| INTC | Intel | 6/9 | -0% | -0% | -4% |
| INTU | Intuit | 8/9 | 20% | +16% | 26% |
| MSFT | Microsoft Corporation | 6/9 | 34% | +18% | 47% |
| NOW | ServiceNow | 4/9 | 15% | +21% | 14% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA | 3/9 | 101% | +65% | 60% |
| ORCL | Oracle | 5/9 | 54% | +17% | 31% |
| TXN | Texas Instruments | 7/9 | 30% | +13% | 34% |
A sample of 16 companies in the sector including the target, alphabetical, unranked. Data from the latest SEC annual reports.
Rule-based classification of fundamentals against the sector. Not a price forecast and not investment advice.
A simplified retrospective read: no analyst forecast (not available historically); the source is the annual report as of the date, so neighbouring quarters can rest on the same data. Quarters with the same classification in a row are merged into one row — each row is one change in the read, not a separate quarter. One ticker is an illustration of the classification logic, not statistics. How we calculate →
The last few quarters are recent context, not a fixed rate. Consensus for near quarters is set low, so companies clear it routinely; over long horizons the forecasts run the other way, too high.
A description of what the market and analysts expect. Not a price forecast and not investment advice. Analyst forecasts run systematically optimistic over long horizons — read them with that discount.