Shares of the multi-corporation initially went down by more than 3.75% a direct response to a rather positive Q2 report released late July 25. The company reported its ever-highest profit of $2.69 per share vs $2.55 of consensus expectations, on record sales of $56.19 billion against Wall Street's estimates of $55.47 billion.

One of the two key versions regarding the market correction of Microsoft stocks is that both numbers were expected at record highs, so there was no big surprise in it. Meanwhile, the stock was a subject of profit-taking after July 18, when it updated its historical highs on hopes for strong quarterly results. Most investors are not ready to reshape their strategies from neutral or selling on upticks to buying again. Another popular and also convincing story is that the crowd was spooked by the company's own somewhat weaker revenue guidance for the rest of the year.

Amy Hood, Microsoft’s finance director, estimated a $53.8 billion to $54.8 billion range in October-December sales. This merely corresponded to a $54.30 billion as a middle of the range. An 8% growth YoY, yet it was less than a nearly $55 billion consensus. The business segment featuring the Windows operating system was mentioned as potentially giving $12.5 billion to $12.9 billion, which was well under the $13.22 billion analysts' average estimates.

However, the net income was climbing from $16.74 billion in Q2 2022 to $20.08 billion. Microsoft’s cloud segment was also expanding with $24 billion in total sales, up 15% and $200 million above consensus. Therefore, the shares of the giant company look to be a probably delayed but potentially strong buy & hold idea when the dust settles.