Amazon burns cash, Intel flags weak PC demand as AI boom's costs ripple across markets

Wall Street's worries over the AI boom's financial cost intensified after market hours on Thursday, as Amazon and Intel's reports revealed the infrastructure race was straining the tech industry and impacting consumers. Amazon's excessive data center spending and projected sales below expectations have made the once-debt-light tech giants major borrowers.

Intel's PC segment faced rising costs due to a memory chip shortage. Alphabet and Meta also burned cash in Q3, while Microsoft joined the borrowing trend with a $25 billion debt sale. Tech giants have deep pockets, but investors are wary of smaller AI cloud firms overextending themselves. Amazon shares dropped 7% in after-hours trading, and AI cloud stocks like CoreWeave, Nebius, and Iren fell 5.8% to 6.7%.

Alphabet fell nearly 13% in after-hours trading, and PC makers HP and Dell saw 8% and 6.8% declines, respectively. Intel's stock plummeted 18% after a factory explosion in Israel caused a two-week shutdown, costing about $600 million in revenue. Semiconductor weakness is primarily due to Intel's report and the negative sentiment it sparked, according to Michael James of Rosenblatt Securities.

AMD and Broadcom also declined 4% and 2%, respectively. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull ETF, which tracks the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, fell 9% in after-hours trading. The SOX has been a standout performer but has since declined 13% since October and 21% from its all-time high in June due to tighter financing conditions.

Intel was once considered a lesser-known player in the tech sector, but its recent rise attracted retail money, some of which may now be at risk.