Nasdaq, S&P 500 slide as Alphabet and AMD earnings fall short

US stocks pulled back on Wednesday after earnings from Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and AMD (AMD) fell short, with investors on alert for fresh moves in the brewing US-China trade war.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.6%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat after the major gauges closed with gains on Tuesday.

Alphabet’s stock was under pressure, down almost 8%, after fourth quarter cloud revenue undershot estimates. The miss rattled investors concerned that the Google parent’s hefty spending on AI won’t see the hoped-for payoff any time soon.

AI trade hopes were dealt a second blow by AMD’s earnings. While the chipmaker posted a quarterly revenue beat, a disappointing data-center sales forecast raised worries about a loss of AI momentum. AMD shares tumbled over 9%.

Big Tech names like Alphabet are also getting caught up in the tariff tit-for-tat between the US and China, which Wall Street sees as a risk for tech and chip names alike. Apple (AAPL) shares dropped roughly 2% after a Bloomberg report that Beijing is looking into targeting its app store in an antitrust probe.

President Donald Trump’s tariff plans have markets already jumpy, and his unexpected suggestion late Tuesday that the US could take over the Gaza strip and develop it as a “Riviera of the Middle East” left investors even more bemused about which direction policy will take next.

Disney (DIS) was the earnings highlight Wednesday, posting a beat on streaming strength but taking a hit in its theme park business from hurricanes.

LIVE 14 updates

Nvidia pops more than 3% as big tech spending boom rolls on

Last week, the emergence of a new AI model from China’s DeepSeek, sparked investor concern that the AI spending boom may cool off as companies find cheaper ways to fullfill their AI goals.

This spawned a massive sell-off in Nvidia (NVDA), with the prevailing thought being that companies may not allocate as much spend to Nvidia’s expensive AI chips. But as big tech earnings have rolled on, there aren’t many signs of a spending slowdown.

The most recent example came Tuesday night, with Alphabet (GOOGL GOOG) saying it plans to spend $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, above Wall Street analysts’ estimates of $57.9 billion.

Fundstrat head of research Tom Lee pointed out that Alphabet’s Capex increase is “a reminder that capex plans for AI and data center spending remain strong, even if one thinks DeepSeek represents a threat to those figures.”

To Lee’s point, shares of Nvidia, a supplier of AI chips to Alphabet, were up more than 3% in early trade on Wednesday.
Alphabet shares fall nearly 8% as cloud disappoints

Alphabet’s (GOOGL,GOOG) stock is down more than 8% after the Google parent reported quarterly results.

Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

The company fell short on its important cloud segment revenue. The company also dramatically expanded its capital expenditures for the year ahead, from $57.9 billion to a planned $75 billion.

Alphabet’s update comes as China said it’s launching an antitrust probe into Google, in what’s widely seen as a retaliatory measure by Beijing against President Trump’s 10% tariff on goods made in China.

Alphabet is also contending with the fallout from China-based DeepSeek’s AI models. News of these rocked the tech world last week, amid claims they were cheaper to train and as capable as leading models from Silicon Valley companies.

Read more here.
Nasdaq lags at the open

US stocks pulled back on Wednesday after earnings from Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and AMD (AMD) fell short, with investors on alert for fresh moves in the brewing US-China trade war.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.6%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat after the major gauges closed with gains on Tuesday.
Disney CFO chat takeaway

I just wrapped a chat with Disney (DIS) CFO Hugh Johnston (airing live this morning on Yahoo Finance) and found these two points of most interest:
Europe stocks tread water

European stocks trod water as uncertainty over the US-China tariff face-off continued to dog markets and while investors absorbed corporate results from Santander (SAN) and elsewhere.

The pan-regional benchmark Stoxx 600 (^STOXX) index swung between small gains and losses.

Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) was little changed, while the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris slipped 0.3% into the red. In London, the benchmark (^FTSE) index traded broadly flat.
Disney earnings beat as streaming swings to profit, parks take a hit

Disney (DIS) reported first quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat expectations. The media and entertainment…

Nasdaq, S&P 500 slide as Alphabet and AMD earnings fall short

Nvidia pops more than 3% as big tech spending boom rolls on

Alphabet shares fall nearly 8% as cloud disappoints

Nasdaq lags at the open

Disney CFO chat takeaway

Europe stocks tread water

Disney earnings beat as streaming swings to profit, parks take a hit

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