An ominous chart pattern dubbed a "death cross" has been spotted in Microsoft 's recent trading. A death cross is a price chart pattern that forms when a stock's 50-day moving average slips below its 200-day moving average. For Microsoft, the phenomenon occurred earlier this week when the two lines crossed. Microsoft's 200-day moving average is downward sloping, confirming an official death cross. It is a technical pattern that typically points to further downside. Shares of Microsoft have fallen more than 10% over the past month on the back of weak quarterly revenue guidance. More recently, analysts at TD Cowen circulated a note suggesting that Microsoft has canceled data center leases, which raised fears about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade. TD Cowen said through its "channel checks" it found that Microsoft had canceled leases with "at least two private data center operators." In early January, Microsoft announced it was aiming to spend more than $80 billion this fiscal year on data centers that were capable of handling AI workloads. The company's fiscal year ends in June and it has not disclosed spending plans for fiscal 2026. On Monday, Microsoft reiterated its plan to allocate more than $80 billion of its cash to capital expenditures, but acknowledged that it "may strategically pace or adjust our infrastructure in some areas." Some of the other so-called Magnificent Seven megacap stocks also saw a significant pullback as of late as the Big Tech trade showed signs of fatigue. Amazon shares have dipped more than 8% over the past month, while Google parent Alphabet shares have shed 13%. Tesla' s stock has declined more than 24% during the same period. As a result, the Nasdaq Composite has dipped into negative territory for the year.
