AI Shares Trade Quietly After Nasdaq’s Sharp Selloff

Investors assess the cost of the AI buildout

Big artificial-intelligence stocks were mixed on Friday after the Nasdaq Composite’s steepest decline in four months, giving investors a brief respite while they awaited more corporate results and a potential Anthropic initial public offering prospectus, Reuters reported.

Meta Platforms, the focus of the previous session’s selloff, was fractionally lower after falling 7% on Thursday. The social-media company and major AI investor said in its earnings report that it would create a new class of shares partly to raise money for additional capital spending. Investors interpreted the move as evidence that the next stage of AI expansion could be costly for shareholders.

SpaceX, Oracle and Dell Technologies rose between 1% and 2%, according to Reuters, while Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon fell by less than 1%. Major semiconductor shares were mostly higher after their largest decline since the summer. The Nasdaq was little changed by Friday afternoon.

Funding concerns remain in view

Credit-default swaps linked to large AI companies were mostly modestly lower, although premiums have risen over the past year as investors have focused on the risks taken by major spenders. Meta’s five-year spread was trading 0.3% narrower at 123, based on LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Market observers told Reuters that investors continue to debate whether AI revenue growth can justify the cost and how long the expansion can remain sustainable. Shares of smaller “neocloud” companies tied to AI data-centre infrastructure have also weakened, raising concern that capital could become scarcer and financing more expensive. Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft were expected to report earnings the following week.

Sources

https://www.reuters.com/business/after-previous-days-slump-trading-is-quieter-among-ai-shares-2026-10-23/