Shares of Microsoft Corp. sank 2.5% in premarket trading Thursday, after the software behemoth lowered its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance for profit and revenue to reflect and “unfavorable” currency impact. The company revised its earnings-per-share estimate for the quarter to June 30 to $2.24 to $2.32 from $2.28 from $2.35, with the new guidance below the FactSet EPS consensus of $2.33. The revenue outlook was lowered to $51.94 billion to $52.74 billion from $52.40 billion to $53.2 billion, with the new range below the FactSet consensus of $52.90 billion. The revised outlook comes after the U.S. Dollar Index has rallied 4.9% over the past three months and surged 13.6% over the past year. Microsoft shares have shed 19.0% year to date through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined 9.7%.
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