Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures plummet as Amazon's earnings flop set to deepen tech rout

NEW YORK – U.S. stock market futures tumbled in late-night trading Thursday, signaling a painful open for Wall Street on Friday as a stunning earnings disappointment from Amazon threatened to accelerate a brutal, tech-driven market sell-off. The after-hours carnage compounds a bruising regular session that has already pushed major indices into the red for the year.

Futures contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) led the declines, plunging 1.2% overnight. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) slid 0.7%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) pointed to a more modest, but still significant, 0.4% drop at the opening bell.

The sharp moves followed a punishing day for equities where mounting concerns over valuations and the high cost of the artificial intelligence boom finally boiled over. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both slipped into negative territory for 2026 on Thursday, erasing all of their year-to-date gains.

The Amazon Effect: A $200 Billion Shockwave

The primary catalyst for the overnight gloom was Amazon (AMZN). The e-commerce and cloud computing behemoth, a bellwether for both consumer spending and enterprise technology, saw its shares crater by more than 10% in extended trading.

The sell-off was triggered by a dual-pronged disappointment in its latest quarterly report. The company posted earnings per share that fell short of analyst expectations, a rare miss that immediately soured sentiment.

However, the more significant shock came from its forward-looking capital expenditure guidance. Amazon projected it would spend a staggering $200 billion for the year, a figure that raised serious concerns across trading desks about the ballooning costs of building out AI infrastructure. While investment in AI is seen as crucial for future growth, the sheer scale of the spending has investors questioning the near-term impact on profitability and return on investment.

A Broadening Tech Rout

Amazon’s post-earnings collapse is pouring fuel on an already raging fire. The technology sector, the market's undisputed leader for the past year, is now facing a severe and sustained pullback.

Thursday’s regular session saw heavy selling across the sector, pushing the Nasdaq Composite to its worst single-day performance in over a month. The reversal has been swift, wiping out a strong start to the year and putting the market on a defensive footing.

The core of the issue has shifted from a simple valuation correction to a more fundamental questioning of the AI narrative. While the promise of AI remains, investors are now forced to confront the colossal upfront costs and the uncertain timeline for monetizing these massive investments.

Market-Wide Risk Aversion

The anxiety is not confined to the equity markets. A classic "risk-off" tone has taken hold, with investors shedding speculative assets and seeking safety.

• Cryptocurrency Contagion: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) extended its sharp slide, falling to price levels not seen since 2024. The weakness in the world's largest cryptocurrency had a direct impact on crypto-exposed stocks. MicroStrategy (MSTR), a company known for its massive bitcoin holdings, reported a quarterly loss directly precipitated by the token's sell-off, sending its shares lower.

• Commodity Cool-Down: Silver (SI=F), which had recently enjoyed a powerful rally partly fueled by retail investor interest, resumed its decline. The move suggests a broader retreat from momentum-driven trades and speculative commodities.

Pockets of Resilience

Despite the widespread gloom, Thursday’s earnings landscape was not entirely bleak, proving that strong fundamentals can still be rewarded.

• Reddit's Rebound: Shares of social media platform Reddit (RDDT) surged in after-hours trading. The company delivered a quarterly earnings report that beat expectations, issued upbeat forward guidance, and, crucially, announced a new stock buyback program. A share repurchase is often interpreted as a sign of management's confidence that its stock is undervalued.

• Roblox's Rally: Gaming platform Roblox (RBLX) also saw its shares jump after reporting its own positive results, providing a rare bright spot in an otherwise battered technology and communications sector.

Economic Headwinds and What's Next

Underpinning the market's fragility are fresh signs of a weakening U.S. economy, particularly in the labor market.

The week's economic data has been troubling. Job openings have sunk to their lowest level since 2020, and data on layoff announcements showed a significant surge, suggesting corporations are beginning to tighten their belts in earnest.

Investors looking for a definitive read on the economy's health will have to wait. The closely watched monthly nonfarm payrolls report, originally scheduled for this Friday, has been delayed until Wednesday of next week. The postponement follows the recent resolution of the brief federal government shutdown.

Looking ahead, the market's direction will be dictated by two key forces. First, investors will parse earnings from non-tech giants before Friday’s bell, including Toyota (TM) and Philip Morris (PM), for clues as to whether the weakness is spreading to the broader economy.

Second, all eyes will be on next Wednesday's delayed jobs report. The data will serve as a critical checkpoint, offering the most comprehensive look yet at whether the cracks appearing in the labor market are the start of a significant economic downturn. For now, the market remains on a knife's edge, caught between the high cost of future innovation and the growing fear of a present-day slowdown.