Tech stocks erased more than $1 trillion in market value on Friday as investors pulled money out of artificial intelligence-linked shares and into more defensive parts of the market. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% to close at 25,437.00, its worst single day since June and roughly 8% below its recent high. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 3.4%, while the S&P 500 slid 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 572.25 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31.
Selling intensified into the afternoon as traders took profits into month-end and ahead of next week’s midterm elections in the United States. The S&P 500’s technology sector was the day’s weakest group, tumbling more than 4.2%.
Chipmakers lead the sell-off
Intel shares plunged about 29% after the company issued a weak outlook for the current quarter and pointed to a slowdown in personal computers. That was its worst one-day drop in data going back to the 1980s. Revenue in Intel’s client computing and physical artificial intelligence group fell 5% from a year earlier to $8.1 billion. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan cited supply-chain issues in the lacklustre quarter.
Other chip names followed. SanDisk fell 13%, Advanced Micro Devices dropped close to 11%, and ARM Holdings, Qualcomm and Marvell each fell around 10%. Nvidia and Broadcom declined about 4% and 5%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index sank 7.2%, and a “DRAM” exchange-traded fund tracking memory and storage shares tumbled about 7% on the day.
Big Tech spending meets cash-flow doubts
Amazon shares finished Friday down about 1.4% after third-quarter earnings and revenue missed Wall Street expectations. The company reported negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion and kept its 2026 capital expenditures forecast at about $220 billion. Chief executive Andy Jassy told investors the firm still expects that level of spending, mostly for Amazon Web Services, and “meaningfully more” in 2027.
Alphabet had already suffered its worst day on record on Thursday, shedding about $500 billion in market value after missing on earnings and revenue and posting negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion. The Google parent fell another 1.4% on Friday. A week earlier, Meta reported negative free cash flow for the first time since 2012. None of these large firms signalled a slowdown in AI investment.
As money left tech, consumer staples and healthcare gained. Walmart and Coca-Cola each rose more than 1%, limiting the Dow’s decline. Keith Buchanan of Globalt said the market tone has shifted toward harder questions about financing and who captures the economic returns from AI. Truist strategist Keith Lerner said Wall Street increasingly wants evidence that heavy investment will become lasting profits and cash flow.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Mid-to-late October 2026: Meta posts negative free cash flow for the first time since 2012.
- Thursday, 28 October 2026: Alphabet records its worst day ever; Amazon and Intel report results that fail to reassure investors.
- Friday, 29 October 2026: Tech stocks wipe out more than $1 trillion; Nasdaq Composite falls 2.86%, Intel plunges about 29%.
- Full month of October 2026: Nasdaq drops 5.3%, its steepest monthly fall since March 2025; S&P 500 down 0.9%, Dow up 1.7%. CoreWeave and Nebius fall about 37% and 35% over the month.
Aasan alfaaz mein
America ke tech shares mein AI par kharch ke baare mein tension badh gayi hai. Ek hi din mein tech stocks se ek trillion dollar se zyada value khatam ho gayi. Intel jaisi chip companies bohot giri hain. Agar aapke paas US tech funds ya AI se linked shares hain, to unki qeemat is hafte kam ho sakti hai.
