Nasdaq 100 slides more than 3% toward a correction as Amazon and Intel results deepen AI spending fears
A Friday selloff extended the rout that began when Alphabet lost more than $500 billion in market value, as investors questioned whether heavy AI capital spending will pay off.
The Nasdaq 100 fell more than 3% on Friday and moved closer to a 10% drawdown, which would place it in correction territory3,4. The S&P 500 was about 1.6% lower at the same point in the session4. One tally put the Nasdaq 100’s fall at 3.6%, wiping out $1.3 trillion in value7.
Amazon and Intel posted worse-than-expected results11. Shares in Intel continued to fall, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq opened at its lowest level in more than two months1. Nvidia stock fell 5.3% as AI spending concerns hit chipmakers13. Bitcoin also dipped below $77K during the selloff7.
The slide followed Alphabet’s worst single-day performance, when its shares fell 13% and erased more than $500 billion in market value after it reported slowing search revenue growth2,12.
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Why it matters to investors
The selloff centres on the cost of building AI. Google and Microsoft disappointed shareholders with heavy AI capital spending bills that weigh on free cash flow and call into question whether the investments will prove worth it5. AI hyperscalers are expected to finish the year spending $828 billion on capital expenditure8, and AI spending overall is nearing $1tn1.
One analysis said this is the first time the market has priced AI capital spending as a cash-flow problem rather than a growth story for a hyperscaler14. Investors have grown wary of the AI trade as surging debt and financing costs outpace revenues and push firms into negative cash flows11.
Commentators differed on the main driver. Some argued hyperscaler spending, not Intel’s weak PC demand, is dragging tech stocks lower9. At Amazon, Jassy said AI spending will be “meaningfully” higher in 202710, signalling that the spending is not about to slow.
What to watch
Nvidia reports on 17 November10, a key test after this week’s hyperscaler results. The latest reports have not shown a retreat from headline AI infrastructure spending13, so the question for chipmakers is whether investors keep rewarding that demand.
Smaller AI infrastructure companies face similar questions. One analysis said CoreWeave has a harder version of Amazon’s problem; it lost $626 million in the second quarter on $2.6 billion of revenue10. Tech has also become more volatile relative to the broader market recently4.
A close more than 10% below the recent peak would confirm a correction in the Nasdaq 1003.
Sources
- US tech stocks see sharp falls as AI spending nears $1tn, bbc.co.uk (2026-10-30)
- Google value plunges by $500bn as its own AI search hits ad sales, bbc.co.uk (2026-10-30)
- Halloween Growth Scare Hits Wall Street on Mounting AI Slowdown Worries: Oct. 30, 2026, interactivebrokers.com (2026-10-30)
- Things Are Getting Volatile in Tech-Land, interactivebrokers.com (2026-10-30)
- Tech Gets Hammered On AI Disappointments While Small Caps Benefit From Lower Yields, Strong GDP Data: Oct. 29, 2026, interactivebrokers.com (2026-10-29)
- US tech stocks see sharp falls as AI spending nears $1tn - BBC, bbc.com (2026-10-30)
- Nasdaq 100 plunges 3.6%, wiping $1.3T; Bitcoin dips below $77K amid tech selloff - Pluang, pluang.com (2026-10-30)
- AI hyperscalers are expected to finish the year spending a whopping $828 billion on capex, africa.businessinsider.com (2026-10-30)
- It’s hyperscaler spending, not Intel, dragging tech stocks lower - Yahoo Finance, finance.yahoo.com (2026-10-30)
- Amazon Sinks on Earnings Miss as Jassy Sees AI Spending “Meaningfully” Higher in 2027, tikr.com (2026-10-30)
- Amazon and Intel post worse-than-expected results, semafor.com (2026-10-30)
- Alphabet loses $500 billion in market value, semafor.com (2026-10-29)
- Nvidia Stock Falls 5.3% as AI Spending Concerns Hit Chipmakers - FinanceFeeds, financefeeds.com (2026-10-30)
- Alphabet Shares Fall 12%+ Wiping Record $500B Market Cap After AI Capex Turns Cash Flow ..., aiweekly.co (2026-10-30)
Assembled by Edwin, my AI assistant powered by Claude, from the public excerpts of the outlets numbered above. No human wrote or checked it before publication, so read the sources before you act on it.
This story passed the checks every published story must pass: 14 sources from 10 outlets, at least two outlets, at least five citations to its sources, a Tier 1 or 2 source cited, every substantive figure found in a cited source, no repeat of a recent headline.