Tax-loss harvesting alternatives for MSFT

Among the 13 Systems Software peers screened, PANW (Palo Alto Networks) has tracked MSFT most closely over the past year, with a return correlation of 0.43. The strongest fund stand-in is IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software) at 0.65 over the past year. Correlations are computed from daily closing-price returns aligned by trading day.

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STOCKS

Single-name peers

Ticker	Name	Sub-industry	1Y	3Y	5Y	10Y
PANW	Palo Alto Networks	Systems Software	0.43	0.41	0.46	0.45
CRWD	CrowdStrike Holdings	Systems Software	0.43	0.47	0.50	0.46
ORCL	Oracle Corp.	Systems Software	0.38	0.45	0.45	0.49
GEN	Gen Digital	Systems Software	0.38	0.31	0.33	0.31
OKTA	Okta Inc.	Systems Software	0.38	0.36	0.42	0.45
NTNX	Nutanix	Systems Software	0.35	0.40	0.41	0.41
FTNT	Fortinet Inc.	Systems Software	0.34	0.32	0.45	0.50
NET	Cloudflare Inc.	Systems Software	0.33	0.39	0.48	0.46
NABL	N-able, Inc.	Systems Software	0.30	0.31	0.33	—
QLYS	Qualys	Systems Software	0.25	0.30	0.40	0.43
PRGS	Progress Software Corporation	Systems Software	0.25	0.24	0.33	0.37
ATEN	A10 Networks, Inc.	Systems Software	0.19	0.22	0.32	0.32
CVLT	CommVault Systems	Systems Software	0.16	0.26	0.31	0.36

ETFS

Fund stand-ins

An ETF is generally not 'substantially identical' to a single stock, which is why funds are the standard wash-sale-aware replacement.

Ticker	Name	Focus	Match	1Y	3Y	5Y	10Y
IGV	iShares Expanded Tech-Software	Software	INDUSTRY	0.65	0.68	0.75	0.80
SKYY	First Trust Cloud Computing	Cloud Computing	SUB-IND	0.55	0.60	0.68	0.74
XSW	SPDR S&P Software & Services	Software (Equal Wt)	INDUSTRY	0.54	0.56	0.63	0.69
WCLD	WisdomTree Cloud Computing	Cloud Computing	SUB-IND	0.52	0.53	0.61	0.63
CLOU	Global X Cloud Computing ETF	Cloud Computing	SUB-IND	0.51	0.54	0.63	0.68
BUG	Global X Cybersecurity ETF	Cybersecurity	SUB-IND	0.47	0.50	0.58	0.60
CIBR	First Trust Cybersecurity ETF	Cybersecurity	SUB-IND	0.47	0.54	0.63	0.68
HACK	ETFMG Prime Cyber Security	Cybersecurity	SUB-IND	0.45	0.53	0.61	0.67
VGT	Vanguard Info Tech ETF	Tech Sector	SECTOR	0.39	0.59	0.73	0.81
XLK	Technology Select Sector SPDR	Tech Sector	SECTOR	0.35	0.58	0.72	0.81
QQQM	Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF	Nasdaq 100	BROAD	0.33	0.58	0.72	—
QQQ	Invesco QQQ Trust	Nasdaq 100	BROAD	0.33	0.58	0.72	0.81

NEXT STEPS

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Replacement research for MSFT's peers

PANW CRWD ORCL GEN OKTA NTNX FTNT NET NABL QLYS PRGS ATEN CVLT

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Method: Pearson correlation of daily closing-price returns, Yahoo Finance data, series aligned by trading day, refreshed weekly. A cell is blank when overlapping history covers less than 60% of its window. Correlation is descriptive, not predictive. Wash-sale treatment depends on facts and circumstances — confirm with a tax professional. Not investment advice.