Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Are Its Earnings a ‘Prelude to a Miss’?

Smartphones and tablets
While Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has received varied reviews of its Surface tablet, getting a product on shelves was an important step. This is not likely to be a huge number for the company, but any clarity that you get will serve as an important baseline looking ahead. As the company must compete not only with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s market leading iPads but also with the growing base of Android tablets, establishing itself as an option is critical.

A last key number to look for is some direction on Windows Phone sales from its partnership with Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK). Recent indications from the smartphone maker suggest that various Lumia models are getting solid traction, particularly in China with the Lumia 920T. This is a critical market for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), so the increasing market share for WP is important. This may be even truer as rumors continue to mount that Apple will begin to attack with a lower-priced iPhone.

Ultimately, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) seems to be fighting its way back from the brink of irrelevance. While the company’s enterprise business was never in real jeopardy, as the company dives into more markets with competitive products its future looks solid. While I may not wish to jump into the stock ahead of earnings, any weakness as a result of the release is a buying opportunity.

The article Microsoft Earnings: Prelude to a Miss? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Doug Ehrman has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Google, and Intel and owns shares of Apple, Google, Intel, and Microsoft.

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