Nasdaq tumbles at open as Amazon, Intel add to AI spending woes

The ‌Nasdaq opened at its ‌lowest level in more than two ​months on Friday, after Amazon’s aggressive artificial intelligence (AI) spending ​plan and Intel’s ⁠cash burn warning intensified ‌investor concerns ‌about ​escalating costs of AI ⁠infrastructure ​buildout and the ​return timeline.

The Dow ‌Jones Industrial Average ​rose 0.08 per cent. The S&P 500 rose 1.16 per cent, while ⁠the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.26 per cent.

Before trading even began, the big names in tech were all plummeting down the index.

Intel ‌tumbled 25 per cent in premarket trading on a bleak outlook, deepening a broader retreat in technology stocks as investors grew increasingly ‌wary of weakening PC demand and the vast spending required to build out AI infrastructure.

The forecast underscores the challenges facing ​chief executive Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround effort, with Intel still grappling with a prolonged PC market slump even as it invests heavily in AI and manufacturing expansion.

Semiconductor stocks, including Advanced Micro Devices, Arm Holdings, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron, fell between 2 per cent and 9 per cent ​in premarket trading.

“The market is in a sell first, ask questions later mood right now, and Intel’s warning has given ⁠investors an easy excuse to take some money off the table across chip stocks,” said Matt ‌Britzman, ‌senior ​equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

The sell-off spread to server makers, reflecting investor caution towards companies tied to the semiconductor and AI infrastructure supply chain.

Shares of server makers ⁠Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Super ​Micro Computer fell between 6 per cent and 12 per cent in ​pre-market trading. – Reuters

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026