Intel Shares Drop 28% as Nasdaq Posts Worst Month Since March 2025

Intel shares fell 28% on Friday, wiping more than $130bn off the chipmaker's market value, as a second straight day of tech stock losses pushed the Nasdaq to its lowest level in more than two months, according to the BBC. The Nasdaq closed out October with its worst monthly slide since March 2025.

The drop affects anyone holding tech-heavy index funds or individual shares in the companies involved, and it signals that Wall Street is no longer giving major tech firms a free pass on the hundreds of billions of dollars they are pouring into artificial intelligence.

What happened to Intel and Alphabet stock Friday?

Intel's slide was the sharpest of the day. The chipmaker said Thursday it planned to keep increasing AI-related spending even as demand for personal computers weakens, a core source of revenue for its processors. Intel finance chief David Zinsner told investors on the company's third-quarter earnings call that the firm does not expect to bring in more cash than it spends this year and forecast lower-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter.

"Looking ahead, we see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year," Zinsner said, according to the BBC. He added that equipment investment, already stepped up in the third quarter, would be "even more significant" in the next three months.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, saw its shares fall another 1.4% on Friday after a 12% plunge Thursday that erased more than $500bn from its market value. The company disclosed that AI-generated summaries now appearing atop search results are cutting into its core search advertising revenue, even as it plans to spend up to $205bn this year on investments almost entirely tied to AI.

Why are tech stocks falling now?

The losses follow a week of earnings reports from major tech firms, including Microsoft, that left analysts with new questions about whether AI investment is paying off. Companies have ramped up spending on data centers, chips, and other AI infrastructure, but revenue growth has not always matched the scale of that spending, the BBC reported.

Chris Low, an analyst at investment management firm FHN Financial, told Reuters that most of the market reaction stems from how the biggest players — Amazon and Google among them — are performing under the weight of their own investment plans. The companies are "showing some pretty significant growing pains as they aggressively pursue the AI build-out," Low said.

How much are tech companies spending on AI?

Five companies — Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft — have committed to spending a combined $800bn on AI in 2026, according to the BBC. That figure, paired with Intel's own spending plans, is part of what has pushed total AI-related investment by the sector close to $1tn.

By the numbers

• Intel shares: down 28% Friday, a loss of more than $130bn in market value
• Alphabet shares: down 1.4% Friday after a 12% drop Thursday, more than $500bn lost
• Combined 2026 AI spending pledge from Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft: $800bn
• Alphabet's planned 2026 investment, mostly AI-related: up to $205bn
• Amazon's committed 2026 AI spending: $220bn
• Reddit shares: down 29% Friday
• Roblox shares: down 18% Friday

What did Amazon and Reddit report?

Amazon disclosed Thursday that it spent more cash than it brought in during the period, with spending rising six-fold over three months, the BBC reported. The company has pledged $220bn this year for AI data centers, network equipment, and servers. Amazon shares recovered some of their overnight losses but still closed down 1.4% on Friday.

Reddit stock fell 29% after the company reported weaker-than-expected daily user numbers and warned that Google's expanding AI-driven search features are cutting into traffic referred from search results. Roblox, the online game platform, saw shares drop 18% as its daily active user count declined.

What happens next for investors and these companies?

None of the companies named in the BBC report have announced spending cuts. Intel said it intends to keep increasing AI investment despite the PC slowdown, and Alphabet's spending plans for the year remain unchanged at up to $205bn. For now, the question facing shareholders is whether earnings from AI products will catch up to the spending before patience runs out further. Monday trading will show whether Friday's losses were a one-day reaction to earnings week or the start of a longer pullback.

Reporting from New York by Rachel Clun for the BBC, published October 30, 2026.