Running Scared: Amazon, Intel Put Tech on Defense
Published as of: October 30, 2026, 9:23 a.m. ET
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| The markets | Last price | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500® Index | 7,720.39 | -23.59 | -0.30% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average® | 52,342.56 | -132.54 | -0.25% |
| Nasdaq Composite® | 26,184.72 | -365.12 | -1.38% |
| 10-year Treasury yield | 4.94% | -0.05 | -- |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 101.81 | -0.22 | -0.22% |
| Cboe Volatility Index® | 18.72 | +1.51 | +8.78% |
| Gold | $3,964.70 | -$66.80 | -1.66% |
| WTI Crude Oil | $104.21 | +$2.21 | +2.17% |
| Bitcoin | $77,315 | -$3,760 | -4.63% |
(Friday market open) Tech stocks stayed spooked approaching Halloween, shocked by frightening results and guidance from Amazon (AMZN) and Intel (INTC). Amazon's earnings and revenue missed expectations and Intel's outlook fell short, putting Wall Street into another tailspin early after Alphabet's (GOOGL) poor showing slammed AI stocks yesterday.
Intel plummeted 25% and Amazon fell almost 7% before the open. The tech-dominated Nasdaq-100® (NDX) begins October's final session down more than 3% for the month. The S&P 500 Index is up almost 1% this month, but that's under threat as Friday begins. Defensive trading lifted Treasuries, sending the 10-year Treasury note yield to nearly two-month lows. Staples and health care also found buyers early. Next week begins with Apple (AAPL) earnings late Monday, followed by Tuesday's U.S. mid-term election and a host of jobs data.
Major indexes fell Thursday on weakness across AI and communications. Beneath the surface, however, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index, or SPXEW—which weighs all components equally—surged 1.2% even as the S&P 500 Index fell 0.3%. Eight of 11 sectors rose. Defensive ones like real estate, health care, and staples led. Still, cyclicals including financials, materials, and industrials gained and are up over the last month, possible evidence of the solid economy Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh mentioned Wednesday.
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Three things to watch
- Amazon and Intel assessed: Intel's revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was a range of $15 billion to $16 billion, below the $17.29 billion FactSet consensus. The chip giant blamed "near-term headwinds across the PC industry." Demand for CPUs remained "robust," Intel said. Data center and AI revenue rose 78% annually to $7.3 billion. Amazon's third quarter growth was hurt partly because it moved the Prime Day event it had in the third quarter in 2025 to the second quarter in 2026. Overall revenue rose 12.1% annually to $201.94 billion, just below the $202.22 billion consensus. Earnings per share of $1.89 fell short of $1.96 consensus. Sales in the Amazon Web Services cloud business rose 39% annually, up from 37% the prior quarter and above consensus. Additionally, Amazon kept its forecast for 2026 capital expenditures unchanged at approximately $220 billion, but reported negative free cash flow, the same metric that sank Alphabet a day earlier. Other guidance was in line for the fourth quarter. The reluctance to raise capital expenditures could cause more unease across the AI industry after Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) showed spending restraint earlier this week.
- Not all AI spending equal: Investors seem intent on rewarding AI spending funded within cash flow and punishing spending that pushes free cash flow negative. Microsoft's quarterly free cash flow fell but stayed positive while Alphabet's (GOOGL) hit negative $9 billion. Shares went opposite directions. Oracle, another big spender, rose after promising positive free cash flow soon. Microsoft didn't completely escape punishment for heavy AI spending, however, as shares retreated on plans to raise $25 billion from a U.S. investment-grade bond sale. It's now a trend, as Alphabet issued a similar offering in August. The beneficiaries of this spending—chipmakers and AI infrastructure firms—got rattled yesterday on concerns that tough financial conditions and negative free cash flow might hurt demand. Stocks like Caterpillar (CAT) and Bloom Energy (BE) also fell, because the AI spending impact goes well beyond tech to industrials and energy firms. However, slower AI spending growth might help ease yields if it means falling competition for debt. It could even slow inflation.
- Energy earnings, Apple ahead: Though today is light compared with the last two days of massive data and earnings, there's a traffic jam of energy firms reporting this morning including ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and BP (BP). Exxon and Chevron performed well on the bottom line thanks to steadily rising crude oil prices last quarter. Record profit margins for refiners at times during the quarter also contributed to the energy sector's gains. One lingering question for energy executives is current high product prices might ultimately clip either commercial or consumer demand. The earnings highlight next week is Apple on Monday afternoon. Nvidia (NVDA) would be the only Magnificent Seven left to report later next month. Other key tech reports next week include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Palantir (PLTR), and Arm Holdings (ARM), which could provide insight into AI-related demand for chips and, in the case of Palantir, any signs of AI impact on software sales. Apple initially slid after its July earnings report as investors appeared disappointed by its forecast, though iPhone revenue exceeded expectations. Rising costs, especially for memory chips, remain a concern.
On the move
- Chip and AI-related names capsized early today after a triple-play of disappointing results from Amazon, Intel, and Alphabet. Even Sandisk (SNDK), a memory chip firm that reported solid results late Thursday that included a 61% data center revenue gain, got caught in the wave, off nearly 9%.
- Neocloud firms CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) pulled back 8% on concerns about tight financial conditions for companies spending heavily on the data center buildout.
- Other poor performers early included companies seen benefiting from the AI buildout, including Dell (DELL), down almost 12%, Bloom Energy (BE), which lost almost 9%, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), off almost 8%.
- Chip infrastructure names slammed early today included Arm Holdings (ARM), down 9.6% ahead of next week's earnings, Lumentum (LITE), down 7%, Applied Digital (APLD), down nearly 7%, and ASML (ASML), which retreated 5%. Corning (GLW) fell 7%.
- Chipmakers also came under pressure with Nvidia off 3% and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which reports next week, down 8.4% ahead of the open. Memory chip stocks Western Digital (WDC) and Micron (MU) fell 7% and 5%, respectively.
- The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX), which dropped 1.4% yesterday, enters today with 8.7% declines in October. It recently defended its 200-day moving average of 10,766, about 700 points below where it closed yesterday. Today's early action suggests another test might happen.
- Investors appeared to gravitate early toward non-AI and tech names. Eli Lilly (LLY) climbed 2.8%, PepsiCo (PEP) advanced 2.5%, Costco (COST) added 2%, Coca-Cola (KO) rose nearly 2%, and Walmart (WMT) advanced 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher.
- ExxonMobil advanced 2% early following earnings that topped consensus. The company raised its dividend and reported $20 billion in share repurchases planned for next year. Chevron, which also beat expectations, climbed 1%.
- SpaceX (SPCX) fell 4% ahead of the open and competitor Rocket Lab (RKLB) fell 6%, despite a lack of news for either. The shares might be under pressure from weak sentiment around growth stocks.
- EV maker Rivian (RIVN) climbed 6% early after earnings and revenue both beat consensus.
- Bitcoin (/BTC) plunged more than 4% to lows last seen in mid-September amid risk-off sentiment, pulling down related stocks. Strategy (MSTR) dropped 7%, Circle Internet Group (CRCL) fell more than 6%, and Coinbase (COIN), which reports next week, fell 6%.
- Technical support for the S&P 500 Index at the 50-day moving average of 7,698 was threatened at the open and may be a level to watch later. Below that, the 7,600 to 7,620 level has been a source of support on retreats lately.
More insights from Schwab
Wrapping up Fed and looking ahead: This week's Federal Reserve rate pause is front and center in today's Schwab On Investing podcast. The podcast also discusses current issues dragging tech, namely spending. Investors appear to be getting more discerning about who are the high-quality borrowers. In addition, there's discussion about possible market impacts of next week's election.
Factor investing primer: Rather than allocating primarily through traditional market-cap-weighted regional or sector indices, factor investing groups and weighs stocks based on shared characteristics like valuation, price and earnings momentum, profitability, balance sheet health, size, and price volatility. This provides a more targeted way to understand and express the underlying drivers of risk and return.
How day trading works and key risks: Day trading involves using real-time data and technical indicators to take advantage of intraday stock price moves. While it's often glamorized, this fast-moving approach carries substantial risk of financial loss and isn't right for everyone. Learn how it's done and common strategies, along with risks, in our latest trading article.
Chart of the day
Data source: S&P Dow Jones Indices, Nasdaq. Chart source: thinkorswim® platform.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
For illustrative purposes only.
The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEW—candlesticks) is up almost 5% over the last month, easily outpacing the S&P 500 Index (SPX—blue line) and the Nasdaq-100 (NDX—purple line). Some of the strength in the SPXEW reflects rallies in defensive areas like utilities and staples, but cyclicals like materials, consumer discretionary, and financials have all risen over the last month even as the tech-heavy NDX fell.
The week ahead
November 2: September construction spending, October ISM Manufacturing PMI®, and expected earnings from Apple (AAPL), Palantir (PLTR), Marriott International (MAR), Entergy (ETR), Idexx Labs (IDXX), Estee Lauder (EL), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Diamondback Energy (FANG), On Semiconductor (ON), and Roku (ROKU).
November 3: September factory orders and expected earnings from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Shopify (SHOP), Pfizer (PFE), Amgen (AMGN), Eaton (ETN), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Arista Networks (ANET), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Block (XYZ), and American International Group (AIG).
November 4: October ISM Services PMI® and expected earnings from McDonald's (MCD), Uber (UBER), Novo Nordisk (NVO), CVS Health (CVS), Datadog (DDOG), Arm Holdings (ARM), Qualcomm (QCOM), McKesson (MCK), AppLovin (APP), Motorola (MSI), DoorDash (DASH), and Allstate (ALL).
November 5: Third quarter productivity-preliminary, and expected earnings from ConocoPhillips (COP), Sony Group (SONY), Southern (SO), Duke Energy (DUK), Cloudflare (NET), Airbnb (ABNB), Monster Beverage (MNST), and Lumentum (LITE).
November 6: October nonfarm payrolls, October unemployment, preliminary November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, and expected earnings from Enbridge (ENB), Moderna (MRNA), Humana (HUM), and Vistra (VST).