Tech Sell-Off Wipes Hundreds of Billions From US Stocks
Shares of major technology companies pushed US stock markets sharply lower on Friday, October 30, 2026, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from their combined value. The Guardian reported that the decline removed nearly $1tn from the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange over the course of a single week.
On Friday, the S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the largest US companies, fell by more than 1%. The Nasdaq Composite, which covers a wider range of shares and is heavily weighted toward technology, fell by more than 3%. The S&P 500 had reached an all-time high earlier in October before turning lower.
The Nasdaq 100, an index of the largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq, was down more than 5.8% for the month so far. Over the month, the sell-off erased about $2tn in value, according to the same report.
Earnings results drove many of the individual moves. Intel shares tumbled nearly 30% even though the chipmaker reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit. The fall followed a profit forecast for the final three months of 2026 that came in far below analysts' expectations. Amazon shares dropped 1.8% after the company reported weaker-than-expected summer profit. Nvidia shares fell 3.1%, the heaviest drag on the S&P 500 that day.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, had already fallen sharply on Thursday, October 29, when its stock dropped more than 12%. That wiped about $500bn from its market value, which the Guardian described as the company's worst day on record.
The moves followed a period of unease about the technology sector's heavy spending on artificial intelligence. Reuters reported that US stocks slid on Thursday as investors reassessed big tech's AI spending while digesting high-profile earnings. Earlier, on October 22, Reuters reported that the S&P 500 fell 1.21% and the Nasdaq fell 2.60% as renewed AI doubts drove a tech sell-off, while the Dow rose slightly.
