Microsoft Shares Right on Schedule

"We believe investors will remain frustrated with the stock near-term while it remains in its tight trading range, as it will take at least another quarter to get people to focus on the upcoming product cycles," said Bellini, whose firm has done investment banking for Microsoft in the last year.

Other analysts projected that investors may have to wait a little longer for the company to show earnings upside -- and for the stock to get out of its rut. Susquehanna's Jason Kraft, for instance, lowered his estimates for this quarter and the full year, citing the timing of the company's product launches -- the next iteration of Windows, for instance, isn't expected until late next year -- and the expenses the company will incur as part of those launches.

Still, Kraft reiterated his positive rating on the company's shares.

"While we are optimistic about key product cycles in the next few years, for the time being, we believe upside to estimates could be challenging," said Kraft, whose firm has not done recent investment banking for Microsoft.

But not everyone is excited about the near-term product launches. At least initially, the company will lose money on every Xbox 360 it sells, meaning that the bigger a success the device is in terms of units shipped, the more money the company will lose on it, noted Richard Williams, an analyst with Garban Institutional Equities. The new version of Windows likely won't mean much for the company's top line until at least a year from now, he added. And the company's other products don't appear to be terribly compelling, he said.

Other products that are further away could spur the company's growth, said Williams, whose firm has not done any recent investment banking for Microsoft.

"Until then, however, we believe the stock is only going to get support from its reputation, market size and liquidity and just because it is too big to not own. [Near-term] growth is not among those attributes that motivate buyers in the stock as far as we can see," he said, reiterating his sell rating.