Nasdaq Experiences Steepest Decline Since June Amidst AI & Chip Stocks Downturn
Wall Street concluded last week in a state of upheaval as the Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.14% on Friday, settling at 26,140.03. This marked its most severe weekly decline since June. The tech-centric index lost over 4% throughout the week, primarily due to a comprehensive selloff in artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks and semiconductor companies. This sent shockwaves among investors on the brink of a crucial earnings season.
Chipmakers were hit hardest by the downturn. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) nosedived 10% for the week, marking its steepest weekly fall since April 2025. This was driven by significant losses in Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Sandisk. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) wrapped up Friday at 11,137, a 15.7% drop from its October 6 peak. This followed eight consecutive losing sessions, the longest such streak since 2008.
Investor unease was further fueled by escalating concerns over the AI debt bubble. Shares of cloud computing firm CoreWeave plummeted nearly 12% on Friday alone, culminating in a weekly loss of 25%. This occurred as the company’s total debt load exceeded $51 billion. Concurrently, CrowdStrike fell by 7% and Oracle by 4.5%. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) soared above 22 for the first time in four months. With 70 S&P 500 companies, including Meta, Tesla, and Netflix, set to report earnings this week (October 19–23), market volatility is expected to persist.
Source: CNBC – Nasdaq slides 2% Friday to post worst week since June