Financial analysts anticipate Microsoft update.

Byline: Benjamin J. Romano

Jul. 26--About 300 financial analysts will flock to Redmond on Thursday, expecting a broad, deep update from top Microsoft executives on everything from the company's $2.7 billion spending increase to its new iPod challenger.

"They usually do a very good job of covering every aspect of every business line and going into more detail than they do at any point throughout the year," Brent Thill, director of software research at Citigroup Investment Research, said of Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting. Citigroup owns shares in Microsoft and its competitors.

Uppermost on the minds of many analysts is the company's plan to spend an additional $2.7 billion in its current fiscal year, which began July 1.

When Microsoft first revealed the outlay in April, surprised …