New York, June 11, 2026, 13:14 EDT
- Microsoft shares were near $386 just before 1 p.m. ET, off roughly 2.8% for the session.
- Shares fell even as the Nasdaq and the rest of the market found their footing after tech stocks sold off on Wednesday.
- Microsoft said it will pay a $0.91 quarterly dividend. There’s also a report Xbox is getting ready for big layoffs once the fiscal year wraps up.
Microsoft Corp. shares dropped hard Thursday, lagging a fragile bounce in U.S. stocks as traders hesitated on big technology and software names. MSFT was at $386.26 just before 1 p.m. ET, off $11.10 from Wednesday’s close. The stock moved between $386.06 and $399.20, putting the company’s market cap near $2.88 trillion.
Microsoft trailed tech-focused index flows. The Invesco QQQ Trust gained $6.27 to $699.96. SPDR S&P 500 ETF was up $1.32 to $726.75, latest data showed.
Wall Street indexes traded higher late Thursday morning, Reuters said. The Dow rose 0.54%, S&P 500 added 0.26% and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.41% at 11:53 a.m. ET, with chip stocks recovering some ground. But software names were still weak. Oracle was down after its capital spending forecast topped what analysts expected.
U.S. stocks took another hit Wednesday, with Microsoft sliding after a sharp session. Reuters reported the Dow dropped 1.87%, the S&P 500 was off 1.62% and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.98% on June 10. Chip names dropped. Fresh U.S.-Iran jitters also weighed on sentiment. According to Reuters, tech has been hard hit, with the S&P 500 technology sector down 11% since its June 2 record—and now in correction territory.
The stock fell with other Big Tech names Thursday. Microsoft lost more than 2% even as the S&P 500 traded higher. Alphabet dropped hard too, and the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF gave up ground as several mega-cap tech stocks slid.
Microsoft’s gaming unit was another drag. Reuters, citing Bloomberg News, said Wednesday that Xbox is looking at major layoffs next month and will slash marketing and other budgets. The report said it’s unclear how deep the layoffs could go. The moves are expected right after Microsoft’s fiscal year ends June 30. Microsoft hasn’t commented yet, Reuters said.
Xbox numbers dropped into an already softer gaming scene, as Microsoft showed in its latest quarter. In the fiscal third quarter, Microsoft’s More Personal Computing revenue slipped 1%. Gaming revenue was down 7%. Xbox content and services revenue also fell 5% year over year.
Microsoft said this week it will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.91 a share. The board declared the payout on June 10. Shareholders on record as of Aug. 20 get the dividend, which is due Sept. 10, 2026. The ex-dividend date is also Aug. 20.
Microsoft’s long-term bull story is still about cloud and AI growth, even as the cost of AI infrastructure is under the microscope. For its fiscal third quarter, Microsoft posted revenue of $82.9 billion, operating income at $38.4 billion, and net income of $31.8 billion. Diluted EPS came in at $4.27. Microsoft Cloud revenue jumped 29% to $54.5 billion, and Azure and other cloud services were up 40%.
Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said in the April earnings release, “We delivered results that exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share,” pointing to “growing demand for the Microsoft Cloud.” CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft’s AI business had hit an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, up 123% from last year. Microsoft
Microsoft’s stock is caught between the company’s cloud and AI business and a market that’s tough on high prices, weak software results, and big AI budgets. MSFT was near its session low even as the Nasdaq bounced. Investors weren’t giving Microsoft the usual defensive mega-cap treatment on Thursday. They saw it instead as a pricey AI stock facing a sentiment shift.
