Microsoft’s Stock Slide Raises Specter of Activist Investors

Is it time for another activist investor to take a run at Microsoft? Shares of the iconic software giant are down nearly 16% so far this year, making it the worst performer of the big tech names. The Financial Times reported on Friday that British hedge fund TCI had sold “almost all” of its stake in Microsoft, citing uncertainty about how AI could undermine the company’s big Office productivity software business. 

TCI isn’t the only investor lately to mutter that Microsoft’s business is laboring under some dark clouds. And with SpaceX’s giant IPO just a few weeks away, there’s reason to believe investors will fund purchases of SpaceX stock by selling their shares in existing big tech names. That suggests pressure on Microsoft shares could worsen in the next couple of months.