US stocks ended the week with a sharp fall on Friday, as disappointing results from Intel and Amazon revived investor doubts about how quickly the technology industry’s enormous spending on artificial intelligence will turn into profit. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.9 percent, its steepest one-day percentage fall since early June, while the S&P 500 lost 1.8 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 570 points. For readers following the full market wrap from The Business Times, the session marked a clear change of mood after a strong run for technology shares earlier in the autumn.
Earnings That Missed the Mark
The selling began with quarterly numbers that fell short of the high bar investors had set. Intel was the day’s biggest casualty, plunging more than 28 percent after its update highlighted both intense demand for AI chips and the company’s continuing struggle to supply them profitably. Amazon also declined after its results left investors recalibrating expectations for the retail and cloud giant, even though the stock recovered part of its early losses as the session went on. When two companies at the centre of the AI build-out disappoint on the same day, the reaction rarely stays contained, and Friday was no exception.
Chip Stocks Lead the Decline
Semiconductor shares absorbed the heaviest pressure. Nvidia fell just over 4 percent and AMD slid nearly 11 percent, while the broader Philadelphia chip index dropped more than 7 percent on the day and closed October with a monthly loss above 15 percent. Server makers Dell and HP also fell sharply. The S&P 500 technology sector recorded its largest monthly percentage loss since March 2025, a statistic that underlines how quickly sentiment has turned against the trade that powered markets for most of the year. The Nasdaq has now fallen close to 8 percent from the record closing high it set on October 6.
Energy and the Wider Earnings Season Offer Support
It was not bad news everywhere. Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron both beat quarterly profit expectations and their shares rose, helped by strong margins at a time of disrupted energy supply. More broadly, the third-quarter earnings season has passed its halfway point with roughly four in five reporting companies beating consensus forecasts, and analysts expect overall S&P 500 earnings growth of more than 30 percent year on year. That resilience explains why many strategists describe the sell-off as a valuation reset rather than the start of a deeper downturn.
Investors now head into a busy week featuring Apple earnings and the US midterm elections, with volatility likely to remain high. Those looking to balance growth exposure with steadier income may find our guide to dividend stocks a useful starting point while the AI spending debate plays out.
