North American stocks sink, Wall Street suffers worst day since June amid tech sell-off

The S&P 500 tumbled about 1.8 per cent Friday for its worst day since June. The weakness of technology stocks dragged the Nasdaq composite down a market-leading 2.9 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1 per cent.

Canada’s main index, the S&P/TSX composite, bounced back from its afternoon drop of 2.3 per cent to close down 1.7 per cent.

Intel’s stock led the way lower and plunged 28.6 per cent for its worst drop since 1974. The chipmaker gave a forecast for profit in the final three months of this year that fell short of analysts’ expectations, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the personal-computer industry continues to feel pressure. The drop came even though Intel reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Amazon sank 1.4 per cent after reporting a weaker profit for the summer than analysts expected. Potentially more concerning for investors was Amazon’s reporting that it burned through $42.4 billion US of cash over the prior 12 months, according to a measure called free cash flow. It spent $94.8 billion US on property and equipment, primarily through investments in artificial-intelligence technology.

WATCH | A breakdown of Anthropic’s IPO and its single ‘God share’:

How Anthropic’s IPO creates a single ‘God share’ | About That

October 26|Duration2:49Andrew Chang breaks down how Anthropic’s unique ownership structure works as the AI giant prepares to go public — and why it’s nearly impossible to overrule its founders. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images

A day earlier, Alphabet’s stock dropped more than 12 per cent to its worst day on record and almost single-handedly dragged the S&P 500 lower after telling investors it burned through more cash during the summer than the spring. The company behind Google and YouTube cited similar, mammoth investments in AI.

Worries are rising about whether all those hundreds of billions of dollars will produce enough profit and productivity to make the investment worth it. At the same time, stocks of computer chip companies and other winners from the frenzy to build AI data centres have come under pressure on concerns that high interest rates may slow the further build out of data centres.

We’re moving out of the hopes and dreams phase of the AI trade and into the ‘show me’ phase, said Joe Tigay, portfolio manager at Equity Armor Investments, in a note to investors.

A drop of 4.2 per cent for Nvidia, the chip company that became the poster child of the AI frenzy, was the heaviest force pulling the S&P 500 downward, outweighing even Intel.

In the cryptocurrency industry, meanwhile, stocks tumbled following a hack on the world’s biggest crypto exchange. The price of bitcoin fell toward $77,000 US from more than $86,000 US earlier this month, and a U.S.-based blockchain intelligence firm said a North Korean unit was likely behind the attack that affected more than $6 billion US worth of crypto at Binance.

Outside of tech, stocks were more resilient as many rallied after reporting stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Nearly as many stocks rose in the S&P 500 index as fell.

WATCH | What happens to the U.S. economy if the AI bubble pops?:

If the AI bubble pops, will the whole U.S. economy go with it? | About That

November 25, 2025|Duration25:53As investors pour billions into artificial intelligence, warnings of a looming AI bubble are intensifying. Andrew Chang breaks down what’s fuelling those fears. Plus, how one reporter’s question struck at the core of U.S.-Saudi relations.

ExxonMobil climbed 2.2 per cent, and Chevron added 1.8 per cent after the oil giants both reported stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected.

Mondelez International rose 3.9 per cent due to better than expected growth and Colgate-Palmolive climbed 2.3 per cent after higher prices for its products helped it deliver better revenue and profit than analysts expected.

Expectations are high for U.S. companies’ ability to make bigger profits, even though people around the world are feeling discouraged about high inflation and high fuel prices. Such expectations are what drove the S&P 500 to its record earlier this month.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased in a signal that investors were buying U.S. government bonds in search of a safer option. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.93 per cent from 4.98 per cent late Thursday and from more than 5.30 per cent earlier this month.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe following sharper swings in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi dropped due to AI worries, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed slightly.

With files from CBC News