Microsoft Stock Under Fire After Worldwide Blackout

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is trading down 0.2% at $521.89, as the tech behemoth remains under fire for its international Microsoft Outlook outage. Despite its "encouraging recovery," yesterday saw the blackout impact its email program, Teams, and its other corporate communication services across roughly 74 countries, affecting healthcare, business, bank, government agencies, and more.

MSFT has pulled back from its Nov. 4 record high of $559.15, now testing the $420 level, a familiar floor of support for the shares since early October. The Big Tech name has been broadly outperforming since its July 30 post-earnings bull gap of 15.5%, which saw the equity breakout above tight resistance from the 120-day moving average.

Analysts continue to back Microsoft stock. Heading into today, 47 of the 51 brokerages in coverage sport a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation, with just four "holds" on the books and zero "sells."

The equity has tended to outperform options traders' volatility expectations over the past 12 months. This is per MSFT's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 88 out 100.