The Nasdaq 100 falls 3.1% as Intel and Amazon deepen AI worries

By Kris Gunnars · Oct 30, 2026 11:43 AM ET

The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.1% on Friday morning, as results from Intel and Amazon added to doubts about when AI spending will pay off.

The S&P 500 was down 1.6% and the Dow 0.7%, as of 11:46 a.m. ET.
Intel (INTC) fell 28.7% after warning that it would burn cash this year because of weak PC demand, manufacturing hurdles and heavy spending to expand production. It expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15.0B to $16.0B, down from $16.5B in the third quarter. Its CFO expects the PC slowdown to last at least through the first half of 2027 (1, 2).
Amazon (AMZN) fell 1.8%, paring most of its premarket losses. Its free cash flow over the past 12 months was an outflow of $42.4B, compared with an inflow of $14.8B a year earlier. Spending on property and equipment rose by $94.8B, mostly for AI. Amazon kept its 2026 capital spending forecast at $220B and signaled another increase next year (1, 3, 4).
The selloff spread across chip stocks: AMD (AMD) fell 9.8%, Nvidia (NVDA) 3.8% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index 7.3%. Server makers Dell (DELL) and HP (HPQ) fell 10.3% and 8.6%.
The selloff follows Alphabet's (GOOGL) 12.6% drop on Thursday, its worst day on record, after AI spending turned its free cash flow negative (4, 5).
Investors moved into defensive stocks: the S&P 500 consumer staples and health care sectors rose 1.6% and 0.7%, while the technology sector fell 4.0%.
Treasuries rallied, and the 10-year yield fell from 4.99% to 4.95%.