Technology shares lead the decline
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Oct. 30 as investors moved away from technology companies tied to artificial intelligence and into more defensive parts of the market. At 11:10 a.m. Eastern time, the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.5%, while the S&P 500 had fallen 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 352 points, or 0.7%.
The selling followed quarterly results from Amazon and Intel that failed to ease concerns about the enormous cost of building artificial-intelligence systems. Investors have been examining whether the companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers, chips and related infrastructure will generate enough returns to justify that investment.
| Index or company | Move reported |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | Down 2.5% |
| S&P 500 | Down 1.5% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | Down 352 points, or 0.7% |
| Intel | Down 28% |
Amazon keeps spending heavily
Amazon shares declined 2% after the company reported third-quarter earnings and revenue below Wall Street expectations. The company also reported negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion. Free cash flow is the money left after a company pays for its operating needs and capital investments.
Amazon kept its forecast for roughly $220 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, most of it intended for Amazon Web Services. Capital expenditures are investments in long-lived assets such as buildings, equipment and data centers. Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the company expected to spend substantially more in 2027.
“With renewed fears over AI Monetization, the Equity rotation is likely to continue today but the broader indices will reflect Tech's downside,” JPMorgan traders said in a Friday note.
Intel outlook weighs on chip stocks
Intel shares dropped 28% after the chipmaker issued a weak outlook for the current quarter and pointed to a slowdown in personal computers. Revenue in its client computing and physical artificial-intelligence group fell 5% from a year earlier to $8.1 billion.
The decline spread across the semiconductor industry. Advanced Micro Devices fell 10%, while Nvidia declined 3% and Broadcom lost 5%. Sandisk dropped 10% even after reporting fiscal first-quarter results that exceeded estimates; the company also announced an eight-for-one forward stock split.
The market’s rotation was not limited to selling. Consumer staples and health care stocks gained as investors sought areas viewed as less exposed to the technology spending debate. Procter & Gamble, Walmart and Coca-Cola each rose nearly 2%, while Merck and Amgen added about 1%.
Friday was the final trading day of October. The decline came one day after Alphabet suffered its worst day on record after reporting third-quarter results and negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion. The sequence of results has increased scrutiny of the financial demands of the artificial-intelligence buildout and its implications for the technology-heavy indexes.
- The Nasdaq was down 2.5% at 11:10 a.m. Eastern time on Oct. 30.
- Amazon maintained a 2026 capital-expenditure forecast of about $220 billion.
- Intel's client computing and physical AI revenue fell 5% year over year to $8.1 billion.
