Microsoft, Robinhood, Arista Networks, Pinterest See Higher Short Volume

Microsoft, $Robinhood(HOOD)$  , $Arista Networks(ANET)$  , $Pinterest, Inc.(PINS)$   and $Grab Holdings(GRAB)$   saw their short volume rise Friday amid a continued tech slump that was fueled by fears that the widening adoption of artificial intelligence are making it easier for users to replace existing software. 

Trading in borrowed $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ shares that were sold short edged higher at 2.24 million shares Friday, from 2.02 million shares a day earlier, adding to the downward pressure that sent the world's largest software company deeper into a bear market. The U.S. stock market was closed Monday for a public holiday. 

The stock fell 0.9% Monday to $397.76. Microsoft has fallen in 10 of the past 13 trading days. The slump has worsened since the tech giant reported a 66% jump in its fiscal second quarter spending to a record, and said almost half of its $625 billion in remaining performance obligation, a measure of bookings, is from OpenAI.

Microsoft, along with tech giants have been punished by Wall Street for boosting their capital expenditures for artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout amid concerns that the hundreds of billions of dollars they're spending may not generate enough return in the near-term to justify their cost. The company, along with $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$, $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ and $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ are expected to boost their spending to more than $600 billion this year, from $359 billion last year. 

A lot of the positions in Microsoft are already losing money after the stock tumbled about 27% from its peak in late October. The remaining profitable position were purchased at an average price $395.20, according to exchange data tracked. The stock is now trading less than $4 above that critical support level. 

Short volume on Robinhood climbed to 6.6 million shares Friday, from 4.28 million shares after analysts cut their average price target on the stock to $129 from $144 before the company reported fourth quarter results. 

The stock has slumped 14% since Feb. 10, the last trading day before the company reported fourth quarter revenue that missed analysts' average estimate by 5%, weighed down by declining crypto volumes. That was the worst quarterly negative surprise since the company's first quarter 2022 results. 

$Pinterest (PINS.US)$'s short volume climbed to 8.9 million shares, from 5.03 million shares after analysts cut lowered their rating on the stock following the social-media company's weaker-than-expected first quarter outlook.

Only 23 analysts, or about 54% of those who cover Pinterest now have the equivalent of a buy rating on the stock, down from 31 analysts, or 72% on Feb. 12, before the company released its financial results, along with its forecast. 

After the market closed Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Julia Donnelly told analysts that the company expects first quarter revenue to reach between $951 million to $971 million. Even the high end of that range was below the average analyst estimate of $980.9 million. The company also missed analysts' average estimate for fourth quarter revenue by 0.8%, the first negative surprise in two years. 

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