Key Highlights

● Nasdaq-100 futures slid after Amazon and Intel reported on October 29.

● Amazon's AWS grew at its fastest pace in about five years, but EPS missed.

● Intel beat third-quarter estimates but guided fourth-quarter Revenue well below consensus.

● Reddit, Roblox and Twilio also tumbled in extended trading.

Thursday's closing bell brought no relief for tech investors: two of the market's best-known names reported results that sent their shares and Nasdaq-100 futures lower in extended trading.

The second wave

The regular session on Thursday, October 29, was already rough for technology. The Nasdaq-100 closed at 29,402.51, dragged down by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s worst day since its 2004 IPO. Then, after the 4 p.m. ET close, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) reported quarterly results, and both stocks fell sharply in after-hours trading.

By about 6 p.m. ET, Nasdaq-100 futures had slid meaningfully and S&P 500 futures were lower, while Dow futures edged up, according to a live market blog. The after-hours drops in Amazon and Intel were the driver.

Amazon: strong cloud, heavy spending

Amazon's numbers were a mix. Net sales of $201.9 billion grew solidly, and its AWS cloud unit posted revenue of $46.0 billion, growing at its fastest clip in roughly five years, according to one report. Operating Margin hit a record.

But EPS of $1.89 fell short of the $1.97 expected, and the company's fourth-quarter sales guidance of $240 billion to $247 billion had a midpoint below the $244.5 billion consensus. Amazon also kept its $220 billion Capital spending plan for 2026, and its trailing 12-month free Cash Flow was negative $42.4 billion, compared with a positive $14.8 billion a year earlier.

The stock, which had already slid to $243.79 in the regular session, tumbled in extended trading before paring some of the decline, according to market data. Chief executive Andy Jassy struck an upbeat tone: "There has never been a trillion dollar revenue business, and we may have two of them in the next 5 to 10 years."

Intel: a good quarter, a weak forecast

Intel's problem was the outlook. Third-quarter revenue rose to $16.5 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.52 beat the $0.40 estimate, with its Data Center Business growing strongly. But the chipmaker guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion and adjusted EPS to $0.25, well below the roughly $17 billion and $0.43 consensus. It also said it expects a PC slowdown through at least the first half of next year.

Intel, which had closed the regular session at $92.07, plunged in after-hours trading. Reports of the size of the drop varied with the time stamp, but every account described a steep slide.

Why futures care

Amazon is one of the heaviest weights in the Nasdaq-100, and Intel is a bellwether for the chip industry. Their after-hours declines came on top of a day when Alphabet's negative free cash flow had already revived fears about the cost of the AI buildout. Amazon's cash flow figures fed directly into that same worry, and one market analyst said that "markets are no longer rewarding companies simply for investing heavily in AI."

Others joined the slide

Amazon and Intel were not alone. Reddit (NYSE:RDDT), Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) and Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) each tumbled in extended trading after their own reports, with Reddit and Roblox both issuing fourth-quarter revenue forecasts below consensus. Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) and Stryker (NYSE:SYK) also slid after hours. Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) was a rare riser after its quarterly revenue of $2.155 billion topped the $2.02 billion consensus.

What to watch

After-hours prices can shift sharply before the opening bell, so Friday's regular session will show how much of the damage sticks. Traders will also digest the Employment Cost index at 8:30 a.m. ET, plus Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) results, on the final trading day of October. The Nasdaq-100 was already down for the month, and a weak Friday open would cement that loss heading into the November 3 midterm elections.