Microsoft (MSFT) shares extended their winning streak to eight consecutive days on Monday amid investor optimism about the tech giant's prospects during the AI boom.

Last week, Bernstein pointed out that Microsoft’s partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI can significantly drive revenue upside for its cloud platform Azure, while Wedbush analysts recently told clients that the company holds a dominant position on the AI front. The Windows maker expects current quarter revenue growth of around 21% in its Intelligent Cloud segment, with CEO Satya Nadella saying the company continues to innovate across its AI and cloud stack.

Microsoft stock rose 0.5% to close Monday at $472.75. Shares of Microsoft, the world's most valuable company by market capitalization, have risen 37% from their early-April low and are up 12% so far in 2025, far outpacing the S&P 500's performance over those periods.

Below, we take a closer look at Microsoft’s chart and use technical analysis to identify crucial price levels worth watching out for.

After gapping above key moving averages last month, Microsoft shares trended higher before consolidating just below last year’s prominent July swing high.

More recently, the stock broke out above this area to all-time highs, potentially setting the stage for further gains. In another win for Microsoft bulls, the 50-day moving average (MA) looks set to cross above the 200-day MA this week to form a golden cross—a bullish signal that indicates higher prices.

However, it’s worth noting that the stock’s move higher over the past month has occurred on declining trading volumes, suggesting that larger market participants, such as institutional investors and hedge funds, may remain on the sidelines.

Let’s apply bars pattern analysis to forecast where Microsoft’s price may be headed next if the uptrend continues and also locate crucial support levels worth monitoring during future pullbacks in the stock.

Investors can forecast how the stock’s move higher may play out by applying bars pattern analysis, a technique that analyzes prior trends to forecast future directional movements.

When applying the tool, we take the trend higher that immediately preceded the consolidation period and overlay it from last week's breakout point. This forecasts a bullish price target of around $500 and indicates the move may last until later this month if price action rhymes with the prior trend analyzed.

During pullbacks in the stock, it’s initially worth monitoring the $465 level. The shares may attract buying interest in this area near last week's breakout point and the prominent July swing swing high.

A close below this level could see Microsoft's price fall to $448. The shares find a confluence of support at this location near the recent consolidation period’s low, the stock's January peak and last July’s minor countered high.

Finally, further selling opens the door for a retest of lower support around $430. Investors may seek entry points in this region near the opening price of the May stock gap, which also closely aligns with a range of corresponding trading activity on the chart stretching back to March last year.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.