Intel's stock fell 29% to about $65 per share on Friday in its worst one-day performance since 1974, a painful decline for a stock that had been up about 150% this year prior to a third-quarter earnings report that raised doubts about the pace of Intel's turnaround. While Intel beat third-quarter earnings estimates, its revenue came in slightly below consensus, and fourth-quarter revenue guidance also came in below consensus.
The problem lies in Intel's PC division: while the division brought in $8.1 billion last quarter, Intel expects its revenue to fall more than 20% in the fourth quarter. The same boom that filled Intel's server order book is starving its biggest division, as AI data centers are consuming the world's memory chips, making laptops more expensive and causing buyers to walk away. Intel's plunge is a major hit to the Trump administration, which led the U.S. government into taking a 10% stake in the company over a year ago, with the value of those holdings dropping by about $12 billion.
Alphabet reported earnings per share of $2.12 for Q3 2026, missing the estimate of $2.96, despite strong Cloud growth. In Alphabet's across-the-board earnings miss, one segment stood out: search. Wall Street hammered Alphabet for an earnings miss that included weaker-than-expected revenue out of the company's core business. Google is also burning through its free cash flow, declining from negative $5.85 billion in Q2 to negative $9.06 billion in Q3, raising investor concerns about the returns on massive AI infrastructure spending.
Intel and Amazon tumbled on poor earnings Friday, sending the broader tech sector down again after a three-day rally at the start of the week as industry giants' massive spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure intensifies investor uneasiness. Disappointing earnings from Amazon, Intel and Alphabet are deepening the AI spending anxiety investors felt after Tesla and Meta's earnings last week.
The ChatGPT maker is now seeking $20 billion at a valuation of $1.25 trillion, down from its earlier target of $30 billion at a $1.4 trillion valuation. The pullback reflects broader investor reassessment of AI spending returns as major tech companies report disappointing earnings despite heavy capex.
Crypto exchange Binance said Saturday it has been able to replace 90% of the amount stolen after a $6.3 billion hack of its platform that the FBI blamed on North Korea, using company money to buy new tokens. The hackers made off with just over $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in about 20 minutes, with the level of sophistication and speed pointing to a North Korean military hacking unit known as TraderTraitor.
Diageo's $2.3 billion sale of its controlling stake in East African Breweries to Asahi has been approved by Kenya's competition regulator, just days after the country's High Court had ordered a pause on the transaction, clearing the way for the deal to proceed as planned by the end of this year.
EQT said it will buy Range Resources in a $13 billion all-stock deal to create the largest natural gas producer in the United States. The transaction reflects consolidation in the energy sector as producers position for rising LNG export demand.
California's new COMPETE Act extends the state's Cartwright Act to single-firm conduct, creating the first state-law monopolization statute in California. While significantly narrower than initially proposed, the law grants California's Attorney General and district attorneys new enforcement powers that may diverge from federal antitrust standards.
This week's tech selloff raises critical questions for small and mid-sized business operators about technology and capital expenditure cycles. The same boom that filled Intel's server order book is starving its biggest division, a microcosm of broader supply-chain disruption. For small businesses reliant on cloud infrastructure or those considering technology investments, the current pullback may offer windows of opportunityu2014cloud providers facing margin pressure may offer better pricing. Conversely, businesses in consumer tech, software services dependent on enterprise capex, or those tied to semiconductor supply chains should prepare for potential slowdowns.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3.75%-4.00% in October after its first rate hike in three years last month, with two members dissenting in favor of a hike and new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reiterating his commitment to return inflation to the Fed's 2% target. The combination of elevated rates and weakening tech sector confidence creates a challenging refinancing environment for small businesses. Monitor earnings guidance from suppliers and customers closely; any broader tech slowdown could ripple into hiring delays and delayed capex decisions affecting your revenue and working capital needs.