In 60 seconds: The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% on Friday, October 30, its steepest one-day drop since June 5, as Intel plunged 28.58% — its worst session since the 1970s — on weak fourth-quarter guidance, reviving fears about the cost of the AI buildout and capping the Nasdaq's worst month since March 2025.
- The Nasdaq fell 747.72 points, or 2.86%, to 25,437.00; the S&P 500 dropped 1.82% to 7,580.07 and the Dow shed 572.25 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31.
- Intel collapsed 28.58% to $65.76 after guiding fourth-quarter revenue to $15–16 billion, well below the $17.08 billion consensus, and EPS to $0.25 versus $0.44 expected.
- For October, the Nasdaq fell 5.2% (its worst month since March 2025) and the S&P 500 lost 1.2%, while the Dow gained 1.5%.
- A $6.3 billion hack at Binance — the largest crypto theft ever — added to the pressure, pushing Bitcoin below $77,000 (see our earlier coverage, linked below).
Crowds outside the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
What happened
U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, October 30, the last trading day of the month, as a week's reassessment of artificial intelligence spending turned into a rout in the chip sector. The trigger came the night before, when Intel and Amazon reported after Thursday's close. Intel's weak fourth-quarter guidance, blamed on continuing personal computer softness, overshadowed a third-quarter beat — and sent the shares down 28.58%, the steepest fall in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100. The broader semiconductor index fell 7.2%, extending its October decline beyond 15%.
Crypto had its own shock on the same day. A hack at Binance, which the Wall Street Journal put at about $6.3 billion, rattled digital assets and dragged crypto-linked stocks down with it. We covered the hack itself in detail separately — this post is about what it meant for the broader market, and why the AI-spending worry, not just the hack, drove Friday's selloff.
Latest verified facts
Here are the closing numbers, from Reuters, Yahoo Finance, and exchange reports as cited by Market Briefer and The Statesman. The Nasdaq Composite fell 747.72 points, or 2.86%, to 25,437.00 — its steepest one-day percentage decline since June 5, and now 7.8% below its record closing high on October 6. The S&P 500 lost 140.32 points, or 1.82%, to 7,580.07, in its worst session since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 572.25 points, or 1.09%, to 51,770.31. In market-cap terms, the Dow lost $312.22 billion, the S&P 500 shed $1.23 trillion, and the Nasdaq Composite shed $1.20 trillion, ET Now reported.
Intel was the session's biggest drag among large companies. Its shares were down 28.76% at 10:21 a.m. ET and closed down 28.58% at $65.76, in what CNBC described as the stock's worst session since the 1970s. The chipmaker guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15–16 billion versus a consensus of $17.08 billion, and EPS to $0.25 versus $0.44 expected — even though third-quarter revenue grew 21% to $16.51 billion and data center and AI revenue jumped 78%. Supply bottlenecks and PC weakness clouded the outlook, and Intel tied part of that weakness to higher prices for memory chips. Nvidia declined 4.2% and Advanced Micro Devices lost 10.9%.
Amazon, the other Thursday-night reporter, said it continued to expect approximately $220 billion in cash capital expenditure during 2026 — and its shares fell 2%. Alphabet, which had its worst day in more than 20 years earlier in the week, kept losing market value. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.93%, and gold fell 3.63% to its lowest level in a year.
On crypto: hackers stole approximately $6.3 billion from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what Yahoo Finance described as the largest heist of its kind in history. Around $3 billion was subsequently frozen. The exchange blamed a potentially compromised employee laptop, pledged to cover all losses, and said it was working with partners to recover or freeze stolen assets; investigators linked the attack to North Korea, and withdrawals were suspended. Bitcoin slid below $77,000 (about $76,655, down 5.4%), and Coinbase, Strategy, and Robinhood registered declines ranging from 7.2% to 10.6%.
Why it matters
Here's the thing: this wasn't one bad earnings report. It was the market repricing the whole AI bet. For months, investors funded an enormous buildout — hundreds of billions in chips, data centers, and power — on the promise that AI revenue would follow. Intel's guidance said, in effect: the spending is real, the payoff is slower than hoped, and the PC market that still pays many bills is soft. Amazon's $220 billion capex plan said the spending isn't stopping. Put those together and you get Friday: a market asking, out loud, what the return on all of it actually is.
The Binance hack mattered, but don't overread it as the cause. Crypto is still a small corner of the U.S. market — the hack rattled Bitcoin and crypto stocks, but the Nasdaq's 2.86% fall was driven by Intel, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and AMD. The hack was an accelerant on a fire the AI-spending worry had already lit.
Impact on the USA and the world
For everyday Americans, the direct impact runs through retirement accounts: the Nasdaq's 5.2% October fall and the S&P 500's 1.2% monthly loss dent 401(k)s and index funds, even as the Dow's 1.5% monthly gain cushioned the blow for broader portfolios. For tech workers and investors, Intel's warning is a read on the PC market and the chip cycle — memory prices, supply bottlenecks, and data-center demand are now the numbers to watch, not just AI headlines.
For the world, the selloff is a reminder that the AI trade is global and crowded. Chipmakers in Asia, crypto exchanges everywhere, and any market that rode the AI wave felt Friday's move. And the Binance hack — $6.3 billion, the largest ever — will shape crypto regulation and exchange security debates well beyond this week, whatever markets do on Monday.
What happens next
Three watchpoints, in order. First, Monday's open: does the selloff extend, or does Friday mark a washout? The Nasdaq is 7.8% off its October 6 record — a further slide would confirm a correction, while a bounce would suggest Friday was capitulation. Second, the Binance investigation: more breaches were already being found as the probe widened on October 30, and any update on frozen funds or recovered assets will move Bitcoin and crypto stocks fast. Third, the calendar: the November 3 midterms land on Tuesday, and markets hate uncertainty — a contested or unclear result, especially in the Senate races, could add another layer of volatility to an already nervous tape. Our take: Friday was less about one company and more about a question the market can no longer avoid — how long can AI spending outrun AI revenue? Until an earnings report answers that convincingly, expect the volatility to stay.
Read our earlier coverage: Alphabet's $500 Billion Wipeout: Why AI Spending Fears Just Hit Wall Street · Binance Hack: $6.3 Billion Stolen in the Biggest Crypto Theft Ever
Sources: Reuters (via The Statesman and ET Now); Market Briefer ("The Global Close: October 30, 2026"); CoinDesk (Binance hack live coverage); Yahoo Finance (via The States Journal and Stockvolt); XTB market analysis.