Intel Plunge Drags Nasdaq to Worst Month Since 2025

Wall Street ended October with a sharp sell-off on Friday, October 30, as Intel’s steep fall dragged the technology-heavy Nasdaq to its worst month since March 2025 and exposed growing investor unease about the cost of the artificial intelligence boom. The session closed a month in which the major indexes split sharply: the Nasdaq fell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, and the S&P 500 slipped only modestly, a divergence that tells a story about where money moved — and where it fled — in October.

Intel was the trigger. The chipmaker’s shares fell about 29% in a single session, closing at $65.76 after ending the previous session at $92.07, according to market data reported after the close. It was Intel’s worst single trading day since 1974, wiping roughly a quarter of the company’s value in one session. The fall spread quickly across semiconductors, with Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, Arm, Qualcomm and Micron falling between 4% and 12%, Reuters reported. Reddit also fell about 29% on the day, while chipmaker Sandisk dropped 13%.

A strong quarter buried by a weak forecast

Intel’s third-quarter results, released after the close on Thursday, were not the problem. Revenue rose 21% from a year earlier to $16.5 billion, in line with expectations, while adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share beat the 40 cents analysts had forecast. Data center and AI revenue jumped 78% to $7.3 billion, a sign of strong demand for the chips powering AI systems.

The forecast that came with those results changed the mood. Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion, below the roughly $17.1 billion analysts expected, with adjusted earnings of 25 cents a share against 43 cents expected and gross margin falling to 38.0% from 44.1%. The outlook pointed to a difficult holiday quarter for the company’s personal computer business, where revenue fell 5% to $8.1 billion in the third quarter and is expected to decline in the mid-20% range in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported.

Finance chief David Zinsner pointed to a deepening slump in personal computers, saying, “We see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year.” Rising memory prices added to the pressure, as suppliers redirected production toward high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI systems. Intel also said an October disruption at its plant in Israel was expected to reduce fourth-quarter revenue by around $300 million. CNBC reported that the disruption followed a fatal explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat plant earlier in October that killed two workers and seriously injured a third.

The scale of the reaction reflected how far Intel had run before Friday. The stock had more than doubled during 2026 after strong gains the previous year, so a weaker growth outlook refocused investors on whether the company’s recovery could be sustained.

How Wall Street closed October

The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% on Friday to 25,437.00, its steepest one-day decline since June, while the S&P 500 lost 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 572 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31. The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.5% on the day, leaving it near a correction — a fall of 10% from a recent high — while the Nasdaq Composite ended 7.8% below its record close of 27,599.79 set on October 6.

Measured across the whole month, the split was stark. The Nasdaq lost 5.3% in October, its worst month since March 2025. The S&P 500 slipped 0.9%. The Dow rose 1.7%. That gap — about 8.4 percentage points between the Dow and the Nasdaq 100, which fell about 6.7% — showed a rotation out of AI-linked growth stocks and into established software companies, energy, defense and pharmaceuticals, with several sectors finishing Friday in positive territory even as technology fell.

The sell-off came after a bruising week for the large companies at the center of the AI buildout. Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet each fell 1% to 2% on Friday after steeper declines earlier in the week, following quarterly results that underlined just how much they plan to spend on AI infrastructure. Capital Economics told Reuters that the four so-called hyperscalers have collectively accounted for more than a third of all capital spending by the current constituents of the S&P 500 over the past 12 months, and that their share looks likely to rise further.

“Now that the combined capital spending boom at the hyperscalers is becoming partly dependent on external financing, investors are becoming more nervous about the sums they are collectively investing and how they are doing it,” said John Higgins, a markets economist at Capital Economics, in comments reported by Reuters.

Not everyone read Friday as a sign of systemic stress. Sahak Manuelian, managing director for global equities sales and trading at Wedbush Securities, said he did not see a particularly troublesome leverage issue, pointing instead to the scale of the preceding rally.

Gold falls, oil jumps, Bitcoin steadies near $77,000

The liquidation was not confined to stocks. Spot gold fell $141.60, or 3.52%, to about $3,879.90 an ounce in late U.S. trading, while silver lost 6.06% to about $49.02, as a technology-led equity sell-off triggered selling across metals. Kitco said broader financial-market liquidation was the more immediate influence on gold than any single metal-market factor.

Oil moved in the opposite direction. Brent crude settled at $117.63 a barrel, up 2.4% on the day, and West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $104.12 after attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz raised fears about supply. The contrast — falling stocks and gold alongside rising oil — underlined how much of Friday’s move was driven by geopolitical risk as well as earnings.

In crypto, Bitcoin steadied near $77,000 after falling to a six-week low of $76,368 during the week following a reported $6.3 billion Binance security incident. Reuters reported Bitcoin touched $77,646 on October 30, while Ether slipped to $2,238.76. Bitcoin’s October decline broke a run in which the cryptocurrency had gained in 10 of the 13 Octobers between 2013 and 2025.

Macroeconomic pressure added to the strain. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday, with two policymakers favoring a hike. September’s core personal consumption expenditures price index rose to 3.1%, and third-quarter gross domestic product grew at a 3.4% annualized pace.

What investors watch next

November opens with a crowded calendar that will test whether Friday was a reset or the start of a deeper pullback. Americans vote in the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, Apple reports results on Monday, and the October jobs report arrives on Friday, with job openings, private payrolls and jobless claims data in between. A meeting of OPEC+ on Sunday also keeps oil in focus after the Hormuz tanker attacks.

For Intel, the question is whether its PC weakness is a short-term air pocket or a longer reset for a business that still accounts for about half of its revenue. For the wider market, the question is broader: whether the AI spending boom can keep delivering returns fast enough to justify its cost, or whether investors will keep rotating toward companies with steadier cash flow. October’s answer was split — and Friday made that split impossible to ignore.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Market figures reflect closing data for October 30, 2026, not live prices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Intel stock fall nearly 29% on October 30?

Intel beat third-quarter earnings expectations but forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below the roughly $17.1 billion analysts expected, citing weaker personal computer demand, higher memory costs and a disruption at its Israeli plant.

How much did the Nasdaq fall in October 2026?

The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.3% in October, its worst month since March 2025, closing at 25,437.00 on October 30 after a 2.86% fall that day. It ended 7.8% below its October 6 record close.

How did the Dow and S&P 500 perform in October?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7% in October despite falling 1.09% on October 30 to 51,770.31, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.9% for the month after falling 1.82% on Friday to 7,580.07.

Why did gold fall while oil rose on October 30?

Gold fell about 3.5% to near $3,880 an ounce as a technology-led equity sell-off triggered liquidation across metals, while oil rose after tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz raised supply fears, with Brent settling at $117.63 a barrel.

What happens next for markets in November?

Investors face the November 3 midterm elections, Apple’s results on Monday, an OPEC+ meeting on Sunday and the October jobs report on Friday, all of which could move stocks, oil and interest-rate expectations.

References

• Reuters via Superhits 97.9 — October ends with a thud for Intel, Reddit, AI stalwarts
• Trade2Spike — Nasdaq fell 5.3% in October, worst month since March 2025; Dow rose 1.7%
• SourceFirst News — AI stocks in October 2026: Nasdaq’s worst month since March 2025
• Bitcoin.com News — Peter Schiff says gold’s brutal selloff indicative of major upcoming crunch
• LaiCrypto — Bitcoin nears $77,000 as stocks and gold fall in October

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