Wall Street ends lower as Alphabet revenue miss revives AI capex jitters

[NEW YORK] US stocks slid on Thursday (Oct 29), with investors reassessing big tech’s massive artificial intelligence spending spree as they digested high-profile earnings and crucial inflation data the day after the US Federal Reserve held US interest rates steady.

All three major US equity indices lost ground, with the tech-laden Nasdaq losing the most in the wake of Alphabet’s disappointing quarterly results released late Wednesday.

In contrast, the smallcap Russell 2000 advanced 1 per cent.

Semiconductor stocks snapped their four-day winning streak, dropping 1.4 per cent as investors sought to distinguish between companies that can fund their lofty AI ambitions and those that burn through cash and borrow funds to realise their goals.

Alphabet was in the latter camp following its quarterly report released late on Wednesday. The Google parent’s revenue miss was compounded by its accelerated AI-related cash burn. Its shares slid 12.6 per cent, dragging the communication services sector down with it.

“A risk-off day like this, with small caps outperforming, is a good sign that thus far the market’s interpretation of cracks in the AI story doesn’t mean cracks in every corner of the market,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.

“There’s plenty of other places to go with your money outside of the AI trade that have pretty decent prospects.”

On Wednesday, Fed policymakers chose to hold US rates steady, acknowledging that while price pressures remain “elevated”, the central bank will decide on its next move as it “accumulates more information”.

A raft of economic data released on Thursday answered that call, with a first take on third-quarter gross domestic product that showed the US economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the third quarter, while price growth continued to heat up with a war-related oil supply crunch feeding into broader, systemic inflation.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 132.54 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 52,342.56, the S&P 500 lost 23.59 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7,720.39 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 365.13 points, or 1.37 per cent, to 26,184.72.

Third-quarter earnings season has crossed the halfway point, with 253 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 81 per cent have beaten analyst expectations, according to the most recent LSEG data.

Analysts now expect aggregate third-quarter S&P 500 earnings growth of 31 per cent, year on year, per LSEG.

Caterpillar topped quarterly profit estimates but left its growth targets unchanged. The heavy equipment maker’s shares tumbled 9.3 per cent.

Eli Lilly jumped 6.6 per cent after the drugmaker lifted its revenue outlook on strong sales of weight-loss drugs.

Ford gained 12.4 per cent following the automaker’s third-quarter revenue beat.

Merck beat earnings expectations on the strength of its cancer drug Keytruda and its HPV vaccine Gardasil. The drugmaker’s shares advanced 3.8 per cent.

Software stocks were broadly weak. Fortinet and ServiceNow both dropped more than 20 per cent after reporting their quarterly results.

Marvell Technology slumped 13.2 per cent after media reports said the company was in advanced talks to buy data centre optics maker Lumentum Holdings. Lumentum shares rose 0.6 per cent.

Amazon dropped 6.5 per cent in extended trading after it provided disappointing fourth-quarter sales guidance.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.95-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 146 new highs and 201 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,464 stocks rose and 2,308 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.07-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 191 new lows.

Volume on US exchanges was 17.05 billion shares, compared with the 17.09 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. REUTERS