Wall Street Tumbles as AI Cash Burn Fears Hit Tech Stocks

US equity indexes closed the week on course for losses after a technology selloff tied to AI spending concerns, with the Nasdaq Composite sliding 3.37% to 25,303.37 — a three-month low. The fall came after disappointing quarterly results from Intel and Amazon, Mint reported, citing Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 566.81 points, or 1.08%, to 51,778.86, and the S&P 500 lost 160.54 points, or 2.08%, to 7,559.85. Mint reported that the tech-heavy index had fallen more than 8% from its all-time closing high on October 6. Cryptocurrency-linked stocks also dropped sharply after reports of a large theft at Binance.

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Key facts

• The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.37% to 25,303.37, the S&P 500 dropped 2.08% to 7,559.85 and the Dow lost 1.08% to 51,778.86, according to Mint.
• Amazon shares fell 30.9% and Intel 2.1% after quarterly results released late on Thursday; Nvidia fell 5.3%, AMD 12.1% and the broader chip index 8.7%.
• Server makers Dell and HP lost 12.5% and 10.8% respectively, and Mint reported Amazon and Intel were set to erase nearly $200 billion in combined market value if losses held.
• Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood fell between 8.8% and 13.6% after reports that hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
• The Guardian reported that Bitcoin fell 2.35% over 24 hours to $77,940, Ether 3.6% to $2,227, BNB 5.6% to $706, Solana 2.67% to $97 and Chainlink 3.1% to $11.02.

AI spending questions drive the tech rout

Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors in New York, told Mint that the week had been dominated by questions about the future of AI, whether it will deliver a positive return on investment and how soon. He said companies meeting the high expectations set for them were doing well, while those falling short or failing to execute were being punished.

The selling was concentrated in semiconductors and hardware. Mint reported the S&P 500 tech sector was headed for its largest monthly percentage loss since March 2025, while communication services looked set for its biggest monthly drop since April 2022. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track for monthly losses, while the Dow appeared set to end October with a gain.

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Earnings season has passed the halfway mark: 299 S&P 500 companies had reported, and 82% beat consensus expectations, according to LSEG data cited by Mint, with analysts expecting third-quarter earnings growth of 31.6% year on year. Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron both beat profit expectations, gaining 1.7% and 1.4%. Starbucks slid 1.4% after forecasting an annual revenue decline tied to the divestiture of its Chinese business.

Binance hack hits crypto stocks

The crypto selloff in equities followed reports that hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance. The Guardian reported that a North Korean group had been blamed for what it described as the biggest ever crypto heist, and that Binance had temporarily suspended withdrawals while completing a security revamp of its withdrawal service and related addresses, revoked authorisations on the affected address, and engaged law enforcement and blockchain intelligence partners to trace and recover funds.

Both outlets link the crypto stock declines to the theft. Mint gave the combined 8.8% to 13.6% range for Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood without breaking out individual figures; The Guardian reported the same firms fell without specifying percentages for each.

Why it matters

The session shows how quickly investor patience with heavy AI capital spending can turn into selling when results miss, and how a single security failure at the largest exchange can transmit losses across listed crypto businesses. For retail holders, the drawdown arrived alongside a reported nine-figure-scale theft that has already prompted withdrawal suspensions and law-enforcement involvement at Binance. Market breadth reflected the mood: declining issues outnumbered advancers 1.8-to-1 on the NYSE and 3.11-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

What to watch

With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq tracking monthly losses and the Dow holding a gain, the next signals are the remaining third-quarter earnings reports and Binance’s updates on its security revamp and any fund recovery. Neither report makes a forward-looking price claim; nothing here is financial advice, and crypto and equity markets remain volatile and uncertain.

Written by

StockPil Editorial

The StockPil Editorial desk covers stock markets, business, finance, forex and crypto. Our AI-assisted newsroom builds each article from published, linked sources, checks it for accuracy before it goes live, and our editors review published articles and correct anything that needs it.

Sources: Mint, The Guardian