By Ryan Vlastelica
Publication Date: 2026-05-21 13:38:00
(Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 Index has had a fitful 2026 as it aims for a fourth-straight year of double-digit percentage gains, something it hasn’t done since the 1990s, while contending with risks from the war in Iran and rising inflation.
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But one high-profile culprit is most responsible for holding back the market: Microsoft Corp. The software giant is down 12% this year, making it by far the biggest drag on the index’s 8.3% gain, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. are the next closest, their moves amount to a fraction of Microsoft’s weight.
Microsoft shares were up slightly Thursday after the Information reported that Anthropic is in early talks to rent servers powered by Microsoft-designed AI chips.
The stock has otherwise been struggling amid tepid results from Microsoft’s cloud-computing division, which fueled concerns about the company’s position in the artificial intelligence…
