- South Korea’s Kospi plunged 7.6%, Japan’s Nikkei fell 4.9%, and Nasdaq futures declined more than 1% as investors reduced exposure to AI-related stocks.
- CoreWeave lost 15.5% on October 14 and Oracle fell nearly 9%, with rising borrowing costs raising concerns about debt-financed AI infrastructure.
- Analysts at Saxo, Barclays and Jefferies identified stretched valuations and financing risks, although Jefferies expects AI earnings and demand to remain strong.
Global technology stocks extended their decline on October 15, 2026, as investors reassessed the costs and profitability of artificial intelligence investments amid persistent US inflation, higher borrowing costs and growing semiconductor competition from China.
Nasdaq 100 futures fell approximately 1.2% in early US trading, following a 1.88% decline in the Nasdaq Composite on October 14, its worst session since July.
The selloff was particularly severe in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 7.57%, triggering a temporary trading halt as SK Hynix lost 11.1% and Samsung Electronics declined 9.5%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4.9%, while Taiwan’s main stock index declined approximately 3.4%. European technology shares were down around 3% during early afternoon trading, with semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML losing nearly 5%.
The retreat followed stronger-than-expected US inflation data. Consumer prices rose 3.7% year over year in September, up from 3.4% in August, increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates.
Higher financing costs are particularly significant for companies investing heavily in data centers, computing infrastructure and AI hardware.
CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed cloud infrastructure provider, lost approximately 15.5% on October 14 and declined further in premarket trading on Thursday. Its longer-dated bond yields approached 15%, indicating growing investor concerns about financing costs and credit risk.
Oracle stock price fell nearly 9% and another 2% in premarket trading.
Neil Wilson, investment strategist at Saxo, attributed the downturn to concerns over AI infrastructure spending, elevated valuations, Chinese competition and weaker-than-expected growth at leading AI developers.
Anthropic reportedly generated $16.8 bn in third-quarter revenue, approximately 45% above the previous quarter. Although substantial, growth slowed from the more than twofold increase recorded between the first and second quarters.
The figures raised questions about whether AI developers can sustain the revenue expansion needed to justify large infrastructure commitments.
Barclays analyst Tim Long also questioned technology hardware valuations, downgrading Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NetApp from Overweight to Equal Weight.
Long noted that enterprise hardware stocks in his coverage traded at approximately 21 times estimated 2027 earnings, compared with a five-year average of 15 times. He argued that higher memory prices had supported revenue growth without a corresponding acceleration in enterprise AI adoption.
Competition added further pressure after Chinese chipmaker CXMT reported progress in advanced memory technology. Its potential expansion raised concerns about future pricing power for established manufacturers, although commercial-scale production of the new technology remains uncertain.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) provided a contrasting picture of underlying AI demand, reporting another quarter of record earnings and forecasting fourth-quarter revenue of $52.3 bn to $54.3 bn.
- Chief Executive C.C. Wei maintained a positive assessment of AI chip demand but acknowledged macroeconomic uncertainty and rising component costs affecting parts of the market.
- Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies, warned that weaker AI infrastructure investment could materially affect US economic growth expectations. He nevertheless expects the earnings season to demonstrate continued strength in corporate profits and AI demand.
The divergence between strong semiconductor earnings and falling technology valuations suggests investors are becoming more selective about AI exposure.
Financing costs, cash generation and evidence of sustainable demand are receiving greater scrutiny as companies continue committing substantial capital to computing infrastructure.
