Stock Market Today: Microsoft Earnings Weigh on Stocks
While Microsoft reported top- and bottom-line beats in its fiscal Q2, shares declined on disappointing guidance.


Stocks opened sharply lower Wednesday as investors parsed an onslaught of corporate earnings updates.
Quarterly results from Microsoft (MSFT, -0.6%) drew the most attention, as it is the first of the big tech giants on the earnings calendar. Late Tuesday, the software maker reported top- and bottom-line beats for the final three months of 2022, which initially sent MSFT stock higher in after-hours trading. However, a closer look at the company's guidance sent shares – and the broader market – lower in today's trading.
Taking a closer look at the numbers, Microsoft recorded earnings of $2.32 per share in its fiscal second quarter, down 6.5% year-over-year. Revenue of $52.8 billion was up 2% from the year-ago period, though this marked the slowest sales growth since June 2016. Additionally, Azure cloud revenue grew 31% year-over-year.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"It's no secret that Cloud is front and center for the company right now [and] Azure beat on growth expectations," says David Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors. "Everyone knows that growth is slowing in Azure. Investors just want to see that it is slowing less than anticipated. And that's exactly what happened this quarter."
However, in the company's earnings call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said MSFT expects moderating "business trends that we saw at the end of December" to have likely continued in its fiscal third quarter as corporate spending slows.
"The celebration that Microsoft received from the market ended as the company's CFO delivered her words of caution," says Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. "It has been said so many times that corporate guidance during this fourth-quarter earnings season is crucial for understanding the direction of the market, especially amid a backdrop of weakening economic data."
And for today, that direction was mostly lower. While stocks finished well off their lows, the Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 0.2% at 11,313, and the S&P 500 was off 0.02% at 4,016. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, managed to eke out a marginal gain to 33,743.
The Newest Dividend Aristocrats
It was a big day for devout followers of the Dividend Aristocrats – an illustrious group of S&P 500 components that have raised their dividends every year for at least the last 25 straight. The Standard & Poor's annual rebalancing of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats resulted in three new members, effective prior to the Feb. 1 market open, including well-known consumer staples stock J.M. Smucker (SJM).
While this announcement is certainly welcome news for income seekers, investors of all stripes should be focused on dividend-paying names – especially in today's volatile market. "Dividend income, an important element of total return, is often overlooked amid gyrations in the stock market," say John Eade, president and director of Portfolio Strategies, and Jim Kelleher, director of Research at Argus. And dividend-growth stocks, in particular, "tend to hold their value better in periods of rising rates and deliver solid total returns in all markets." With that in mind, here are the best dividend stocks investors can count on for dividend growth.
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Seven Local Social Security Offices Are Suspending In-Person Services
A departure from closing locations, seven local Social Security offices will temporarily stop all in-person service and will only be available by telephone.
By Donna LeValley Published
-
The Explosion of New AI Tools
The Kiplinger Letter Workers and consumers soon won’t be able to escape generative AI. Does that mean societal disruption and productivity gains are right around the corner?
By John Miley Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Shines In Volatile Session
It was another up-and-down day for stocks as market participants weighed encouraging inflation data against the latest tariff headlines.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Trump Drives Another Up-and-Down Day
Investors, traders and speculators as well as businesses and households continue to adjust to rapidly changing times.
By David Dittman Published
-
Should You Sell Tesla Stock as Elon Unrest Grows?
Tesla's CEO is wearing many hats and is managing them "with great difficulty."
By David Dittman Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Off 890 Points on Tariff Uncertainty
President Donald Trump still believes his ever-evolving plan for global trade will be "great for us," but "it takes a little time."
By David Dittman Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Swing Higher on Powell Speech
Investors cheered after Fed Chair Powell repeated his confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Trump's Tariff Reversal Can't Save Stocks
Panic selling sent the Nasdaq Composite into correction territory, while the Dow and S&P 500 suffered notable losses.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Adds 485 Points After Trump's Tariff Delay
The White House said it will postpone tariffs on automotive imports from Canada and Mexico for one month.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Drops 670 Points on Trade War Effect
A prodigious rally by the battered leader of the AI revolution typified an increasingly volatile picture for investors, traders and speculators.
By David Dittman Published