BUZZ-PREVIEW: Microsoft eases with rest of tech; results due after the bell

Shares of Microsoft MSFT.O were down 1% in early afternoon trading Wed along with other big tech stocks, ahead of Q2 results due after the closing bell

Shares of Microsoft, which has a partnership with U.S.-based OpenAI, fell sharply on Mon in a broad tech selloff sparked by the recent popularity of a low-cost Chinese AI model DeepSeek

On Wed, the New York Times reported that OpenAI, ChatGPT's maker, said it is reviewing evidence that DeepSeek harvested large amounts of data generated by OpenAI technologies

Investors will be eager for any comments from MSFT executives on DeepSeek

Analysts expect MSFT to report qtrly rev of $68.78 bln vs $62.02 bln in the yr-ago qtr, while they expect earnings of $3.11/shr vs $2.93 a yr ago, according to LSEG

Of the 57 analysts who cover MSFT, 53 recommend a "strong buy" or "buy," four recommend a "hold" and no analysts rate the stock a "sell" or "strong sell"

The median PT on the stock is $500; MSFT was last at $442.93

Including the session move, MSFT is up 5.1% YTD compared with a 5.3% gain in the Dow Jones industrial avg .DJI

MSFT options imply a 4.6% swing for the shares, in either direction, by Fri; over the last eight quarters, on average, the shares moved 3.3% the day after results, according to Trade Alert