Gotrade News - Nasdaq 100 futures fell 2% on Thursday evening, October 29, after reports from Amazon (AMZN) and Intel (INTC) disappointed investors, according to Investing.com. Amazon missed estimates and its AI spending pushed free cash flow further negative, while Intel's weak fourth-quarter outlook sent its shares down nearly 23% after hours.
Amazon fell 6.7% in after-hours trade, the outlet reported. Investing.com said Amazon's results added to concerns over stretched spending on AI and raised doubts about whether the billions of dollars poured into the sector will supply adequate returns.
Amazon and Intel Q3 Earnings vs Estimates
The table below compares the headline figures in each company's earnings report with the estimates Investing.com cited in its coverage of the Amazon and Intel earnings calls. Reported figures come from Amazon's release and Intel's release, both dated October 29.
| Company | Metric | Q3 2026 reported | Comparison |
|---|
| Amazon | Diluted EPS | $1.89 | $1.96 estimate |
| Amazon | Net sales | $201.9 billion | $202.1 billion estimate |
| Amazon | AWS net sales | $46.0 billion | Up 39% from $33.0 billion a year earlier |
| Intel | Non-GAAP EPS | $0.52 | $0.40 estimate |
| Intel | Revenue | $16.5 billion | $16.48 billion estimate |
| Intel | Data Center and AI revenue | $7.3 billion | Up 78% year over year |
AMZN, INTC and GOOGL Market Data
| Ticker | Close | Daily change |
|---|
| AMZN | $243.79 | -4.25% |
| INTC | $92.07 | -3.62% |
| GOOGL | $283.82 | -12.64% |
Regular-session close on October 29, 2026, New York time. Prices and changes: Yahoo Finance, cross-checked against the closing price on Nasdaq.com.
Amazon Guides Q4 Sales to $240 Billion to $247 Billion
According to Amazon's release, net income fell to $20.7 billion, or $1.89 per diluted share, from $21.2 billion, or $1.95, a year earlier, a decline the company attributed mainly to $9.5 billion in pre-tax gains from its Anthropic investments in the third quarter of 2025. Operating income rose to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion.
Purchases of property and equipment reached $77.3 billion in the quarter, up from $35.1 billion a year earlier, and trailing twelve-month free cash flow swung to an outflow of $42.4 billion from an inflow of $14.8 billion, per the release. CEO Andy Jassy said in the release that "Our AWS investment in functionality and infrastructure is working," and on the call he said Amazon still expects 2026 cash capital expenditures of about $220 billion, the majority for AWS, as reported by Investing.com.
For the fourth quarter, Amazon expects net sales of $240.0 billion to $247.0 billion, growth of 12% to 16% from a year earlier, and operating income of $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion, compared with $25.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the company.
Intel Guides Q4 Revenue to $15 Billion to $16 Billion
Intel's third-quarter revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion, according to the company's release, with Data Center and AI revenue up 78% to $7.3 billion and Intel Foundry up 58% to $6.7 billion, while the Client Computing and Physical AI Group fell 5% to $8.1 billion.
Investing.com said the strong third-quarter profit was vastly outweighed by disappointing forecasts for the fourth quarter. Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion and non-GAAP EPS to $0.25, with non-GAAP gross margin of 38.0%, down from 44.1% in the third quarter. On the earnings call, analyst Ben Reitzes said the revenue guide was "about $1.8 billion below the street," as reported by Investing.com.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan cited "industry-wide impacts from higher memory prices and limited IT budgets," and what he called an "unfortunate and tragic accident" that led to an extended shutdown at Intel's Israel factory. CFO Dave Zinsner estimated that the shutdown would cut fourth-quarter revenue by about $300 million and weigh on gross margin by roughly 200 basis points.
Why Are Nasdaq 100 Futures Down?
Nasdaq 100 futures fell as the Amazon and Intel reports landed on top of AI spending worries, according to Investing.com, which noted that underwhelming earnings from memory chip giant Samsung Electronics had added to growing concerns over stretched AI spending. As of 20:47 ET, Nasdaq 100 futures stood at 28,975.0, S&P 500 futures were down 0.8% at 7,690.25, and Dow Jones futures were up 0.04% at 52,533.0.
The evening drop followed a regular session in which the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.4%, pressured by a steep fall in Alphabet (GOOGL) after its third-quarter results showed a deterioration in margins from AI-related spending, the outlet reported. The Dow fell the least as investors pivoted into defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities.
Treasuries rallied in that session. According to Investrade, the 10-year yield fell 5.6 basis points to 4.988%, and the 2-year yield dropped 7.7 basis points to 4.65%, its lowest level in a week, as softer PCE inflation data helped ease pressure. Amazon and Intel reported after a busy Thursday of economic data: third-quarter GDP grew at a 3.4% annualized rate against the 3.1% economists expected, while the third-quarter PCE price index rose 2.1% against a 2.6% consensus and core PCE rose 2.5% against 2.4%, Investrade reported.
Per Investing.com, the Federal Reserve held interest rates at 4.0% earlier in the week, the stronger-than-expected GDP and PCE data furthered bets on a December rate hike, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated the central bank's commitment to its 2% inflation target.
This article is for education and information only and is not investment advice. Investment decisions are yours to make after your own research.
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