Microsoft now underperforms the Nasdaq100 by the largest margin in ~9 years

- Microsoft (MSFT) has historically been one of the "Big Tech" stocks that tends to rise and fall with the broader Nasdaq-100 index (which tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq exchange). Since 2023, its stock has lagged far behind the index, meaning other big tech companies (especially those tied to AI like Nvidia) have grown much faster. - The chart shows that Microsoft's "relative strength" vs. the Nasdaq-100 has dropped to its lowest level since around 2016 — a nearly 9-year low. Relative strength here means the performance of MSFT compared to the index; when the line goes down, Microsoft is underperforming. - Why this matters: Microsoft's huge bet on AI (through its partnership with OpenAI and heavy investment in data centers) was supposed to drive growth. But investors may be skeptical about returns on that spending, or may prefer companies that are more directly selling AI hardware (like Nvidia) rather than incorporating AI into software products (like Microsoft).