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The NASDAQ Composite tumbled on Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed as traders moved out of key stocks related to artificial intelligence and into more defensive areas of the market.
The 30-stock index skidded 269.91 points to 52,072.65.
The S&P 500 ditched 97.78 points, or 1.3%, to 7,622.61.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ tumbled 538.58 points, or 1.5%, to 25,681.26.
Amazon shares lost 2% after the company reported earnings and revenue for the third quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The company also posted negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion and maintained its 2026 capital expenditures forecast for $220 billion.
Intel, meanwhile, slide 28% after issuing a weak outlook for the current quarter, pointing to a slowdown in PCs. Revenue in the company’s client computing and physical artificial intelligence group declined 5% from the year-ago quarter to $8.1 billion.
Sandisk was also down 10%, even as its fiscal first quarter results beat estimates. The data storage company announced an eight-for-one forward stock split.
Chipmakers more broadly were under pressure as well. Advanced Micro Devices dropped 10%, while others such as Nvidia and Broadcom fell 3% and 5%, respectively.
As investors rotated out of tech, defensive areas such as consumer staples and healthcare saw gains. Procter & Gamble, Walmart and Coca-Cola each rose nearly 2%, supporting Dow futures. Fellow Dow members Merck and Amgen added around 1%.
Friday marks the final trading day in October. The month has been rocky for the AI trade, with investors paying close attention to companies’ spending around the build-out. Hyperscalers Alphabet and Microsoft haven’t lifted their capital expenditures forecasts.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury inched forward, lowering yields to 4.95% from Thursday’s 4.96%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices hiked $2.38 to $104.38 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slumped $119.80 to $3,911.60 U.S. an ounce.
