Amazon outpaces rivals in capital spending, but investors are already concerned about AI valuation

Amazon Following in the footsteps of the same tech giants microsoftand not in a good way. Shares of the e-commerce and cloud giant fell more than 11% in after-hours trading after the company reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

But the bigger shock comes from Amazon’s huge projected capital spending of $200 billion, far higher than the $146.6 billion expected by analysts and significantly higher than the roughly $131 billion in 2025.

That number also dwarfs Alphabet’s expected capital spending range of $175 billion to $185 billion, but it’s already giving traders and analysts pause. The message from the market was clear. Investors are growing wary of how much Big Tech is spending to pursue the next stage in artificial intelligence, even though Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he was “confident” the company would see a “high return on invested capital.”

Rising capital spending and concerns that AI is eating into the value of software companies contributed to Thursday’s slide in tech stocks. of Nasdaq Composite It fell by 1.59% due to the decline in . Nvidia, oracle and Qualcommamong others. Mass layoffs in the US in January put further pressure on stock prices. of S&P500 It will decline by 1.23% and will be in the red in 2026. Dow Jones Industrial Average It retreated by 1.2%.

But not everyone sees the sector as facing problems. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a research note Wednesday that the stock decline reflects “an Armageddon scenario for the sector that is far removed from reality.”

But for Stephen Tuckwood, director of investments at Modern Wealth Management, the market decline was a “silver lining”, arguing that it showed “the market has insight at the moment and not just irrational exuberance”.

Perhaps reflecting some of that insight, Bitcoin As of Thursday night US time, the stock briefly fell below $61,008, its lowest level since November 2024, but it has recovered some of its losses and is trading at $65,208 as of 2:40 pm Singapore (1:30 am ET). Other cryptocurrencies such as Ether and Solana have also stalled this week.

In Europe, they are known as British government bonds. gold leafmay come under fresh pressure as questions swirl over British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s grip on power.

Mr Starmer has come under fire for pre-appointing Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the US, despite knowing of his links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Investors increasingly believe Starmer could lose his leadership role by the end of the year, with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey telling CNBC that the fiasco has heightened global uncertainty.

—CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report.

Silver volatility is over 100%. UBS strategists said the recent selloff was likely driven by a broader risk-off movement rather than a collapse in fundamentals, but warned that extreme volatility increases the risk of short-term positioning.

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reportedly said that India is “ready” to buy up to $80 billion worth of Boeing planes, signaling New Delhi’s desire to expand trade with the United States. Goyal also said India could buy $500 billion worth of goods from the United States over the next five years.

A security alert issued by the US virtual embassy in Tehran on Friday said US citizens should “depart Iran now.” The notice was released ahead of talks between the United States and Iran in Oman on Friday, but there are few signs that the two countries have found common ground on the topic of the talks.

The S&P 500 index has fallen into negative territory for 2026 after the index posted a loss on Thursday. Other major U.S. indexes also fell as tech stocks sold off. Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Friday. Korean Kospi This is a loss of approximately 1.5%, which is comparable to the previous maximum loss of 5%. Japanese Nikkei Stock AverageHowever, we added 0.8%.

(PRO) Will the AI ​​bubble burst on its own? The question occupying Wall Street this week is whether the software sell-off has gone too far or signals the beginning of a bubble bursting.