Nasdaq Futures Fall as AI Earnings Disappoint Investors

Disappointing corporate earnings and rising borrowing costs renewed pressure on global financial markets Thursday, October 22, 2026, sending Nasdaq futures down 1.7% before the US market opened. Investors reassessed the outlook for artificial intelligence companies after several earnings reports disappointed, while higher oil prices and a renewed selloff in French government bonds added to market concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC.

Technology shares led declines across international markets. Lam Research fell 8.5% and IBM dropped 5.4% in premarket trading, according to The Wall Street Journal. Meta Platforms was a notable exception, rising about 1% before the opening bell as investors responded positively to its outlook for adoption of its Muse AI technology.

Other semiconductor stocks also weakened. CNBC reported that Intel and Marvell Technology each lost more than 5% in premarket trading, while Micron Technology fell 3.5%, Qualcomm declined 2.94%, and Nvidia slipped 2.2%. South Korea's Kospi closed down 3.5%, reflecting the pressure on technology-heavy Asian markets.

Meta's third-quarter results included revenue above expectations and strong guidance for the current quarter. Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, highlighted the company's AI investment and spending outlook in his earnings reaction.

"The quarter showed the AI investment paying off in the core," said Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives.

Meta also narrowed the range of its full-year data center-related capital expenditure forecast, prompting Ives to assess the company's spending discipline.

"better controlled than feared," Ives added.

Tesla also exceeded expectations for both revenue and earnings in the third quarter, but its shares fell 4.59% in premarket trading, according to CNBC. The contrasting reactions underscored the uneven response to corporate results despite Wednesday's gains on Wall Street, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 360 points and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1%.

Asian markets recorded broader losses as the technology selloff intensified. CNBC reported that Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 2.6% to 62,907.84, the Topix fell 1.1% to 3,997.5, and China's CSI 300 dropped 1.8% to 4,036.30. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 3% in its final hour of trading.

European equities also opened lower. The Stoxx 600 fell 0.78% shortly after 8:10 a.m. in London, with basic resources declining 2.22%, travel and leisure dropping 1.94%, and banks losing 1.93%, according to CNBC. France's CAC 40, Germany's DAX, and Italy's FTSE MIB also traded lower.

French government borrowing costs added to the pressure. CNBC reported that the yield on France's 10-year government bond rose nearly 6 basis points to 5.0514%, its highest level in 24 years.

Luxury company Hermès also came under pressure after reporting third-quarter revenue growth that fell short of analyst expectations. Revenue increased 4.3% to 4.1 billion euros, equivalent to $4.6 billion, but demand from Chinese consumers weakened in several product categories.

Eric du Halgouet, Hermès' chief financial officer, described the pressure on the company's volume-driven businesses in China.

"Back to China now, what we see is that it's the volume divisions that are suffering, so fashion accessories, for example, and also watches and shoes," Chief Financial Officer Eric du Halgouet said.

He attributed the weakness to fewer customers visiting stores and said the company had partly offset the decline through higher-value sales.

"It has to do with a drop in footfall that we have been able to offset with greater value, which is the strength of Hermès. With other divisions like jewelry, leather goods, and such, it's really a matter of footfall more than anything else, and the volume-related mid-tier that suffers the most," Halgouet said.

Consumer spending concerns also emerged in Nestlé's third-quarter update. Chief Executive Philipp Navratil said global results were strong, but financially stretched US consumers remained cautious and increasingly focused on value.

"Look, the U.S. numbers were also good in Q3... but consumers are still cautious, so it's not an easy environment in the U.S. at all," Navratil told CNBC's Carolin Roth on Squawk Box Europe.

Nestlé reported organic sales growth of 4% in the third quarter, while Navratil said the company needed to adjust its product portfolio to reflect household budgets.

"Consumers look for value, they are stretched at the end of the month, and so we have to adapt the portfolio to the right price points," he said.

Investors were also preparing to assess additional corporate earnings and US economic data. Companies scheduled to report Thursday included Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Valero Energy, and Honeywell, while weekly initial jobless claims were due for release that morning, according to CNBC.