U.S. Stock Futures Slide as Tech Rout Deepens on Amazon Capex Shock

U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Thursday evening, extending losses from Wall Street as the ongoing technology stock rout showed little sign of easing. Investor sentiment weakened further after Amazon.com surprised markets with a much larger-than-expected capital spending outlook for 2026, reigniting concerns over ballooning artificial intelligence investment costs and uncertain returns.

By 18:30 ET, S&P 500 futures were down 0.5% to 6,789.25 points, Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.9% to 24,422.0 points, and Dow Jones futures fell 0.3% to 48,857.0 points. The declines followed another brutal session for U.S. equities, led by steep losses in technology stocks as fears grew over AI-driven disruption in the software sector and mounting infrastructure expenses.

Amazon shares plunged nearly 11% in after-hours trading following the release of its December quarter earnings. While the e-commerce and cloud giant posted solid growth in its AWS cloud unit, with revenue rising 24% to $35.6 billion, investors focused on the company’s projection to spend roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026. This figure came in well above both last year’s spending and analyst expectations of about $146 billion. Amazon’s quarterly earnings of $1.95 per share slightly missed estimates, and its near-term outlook also disappointed, reflecting higher AI-related costs.

The market reaction spilled over into other major technology stocks. Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms, all of which recently flagged aggressive AI spending plans for 2026, fell by as much as 3% in late trading as concerns grew over when such massive investments will translate into profits.

During regular trading hours, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively, with both indexes touching their weakest levels in months. Additional pressure came from the semiconductor space after Qualcomm warned of disruptions tied to a global memory chip shortage, as data showed memory chip prices surging up to 90% quarter-on-quarter.

Economic concerns also weighed on markets. U.S. job cuts in January hit their highest level since the 2009 financial crisis, while weekly jobless claims and job openings data missed expectations. Although softer labor data could support future Federal Reserve rate cuts, uncertainty over monetary policy leadership, particularly under Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh, continued to unsettle investors.