Global technology stocks declined on Friday following a series of disappointing US earnings that intensified investor anxiety over artificial intelligence infrastructure financing. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.5 percent, with Soft Bank, a key OpenAI investor, sliding 6 percent and bringing losses from its June peak to 48 percent. Wall Street futures pointed to significant drops at the open, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 down 2.2 percent and the broader S&P 500 declining 1 percent.
Market analysts noted that heavyweights like Soft Bank halving in value over months create a dilemma for investors. Profitable companies such as Google are directing free cash flow into capital expenditure and turning to public markets for funding, raising concerns about AI spending sustainability. Alphabet shares tumbled 13 percent on Thursday, wiping $500 billion from its market value after reporting a second straight quarter of cash burn and revealing that "AI mode" searches threaten its core advertising business.
Chipmaker Intel fell 22 percent in post-market trading with a lower-than-expected sales forecast due to a slowdown in core PC chips. Among the Magnificent Seven, only Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia were up year-to-date, while Google, Meta, Tesla, and Amazon were down. Semiconductor suppliers also fell, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix sliding 5.8 and 8.4 percent respectively.
TSMC declined 2.1 percent, and Japan's Kioxia tumbled 8.3 percent. Fujitsu plunged up to 16 percent after disappointing quarterly results, and Tokyo Electron shed 6 percent.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing