Nasdaq steadies after tech rout as investors weigh AI spending surge

The Nasdaq bounced Friday, February 6, 2026, after a bruising stretch for mega-cap technology stocks, with markets refocusing on whether the biggest companies’ accelerating AI spending will translate into durable profits. The rebound came even as one major bellwether slid sharply after outlining a much larger 2026 capital-expenditure plan, keeping nerves high around the sector that has driven most of the market’s gains in recent years.

By late morning in New York, the tech-heavy index was higher on the day but still nursing a weekly decline, underscoring how quickly sentiment has shifted from “AI optimism” to “AI payback period.”

Friday’s move: a rebound, not a reset

The Nasdaq’s rise Friday followed three consecutive down sessions, including a steep drop on Thursday that capped a week-long tech slide. The turn higher reflected classic dip-buying and short-covering after a rapid selloff, with chip stocks and several software names leading the recovery.

Still, the day’s gains did not erase the core concern that sparked the slump: the scale of 2026 AI-related investment plans, and how long it may take for those outlays to produce earnings growth that satisfies investors.

Amazon’s capex jolt sharpens AI cost fears

A major driver of the week’s turbulence has been the market’s reaction to expanding AI infrastructure budgets—data centers, specialized chips, and the power and networking needed to run them. One high-profile earnings update added fresh fuel Friday when the company signaled a much bigger spending plan for 2026, prompting a sharp selloff in its shares even as parts of the broader tech complex recovered.

That reaction highlights a key tension: AI demand is real, but the bill is arriving quickly. Investors are now trying to separate companies that can fund investment while protecting margins from those that could face a longer period of heavy spending and uncertain near-term payoff.

Chips and “picks-and-shovels” names lead the bounce

While some platform and consumer-internet stocks struggled Friday, chipmakers and related suppliers helped stabilize the Nasdaq. The market’s logic is straightforward: if AI spending is truly ramping, the companies selling the hardware—accelerators, servers, networking gear, and memory—can show revenue sooner than many software or consumer-facing applications.

Even so, the last week has shown that this trade is no longer one-way. When risk appetite retreats, the same high-momentum AI-linked names that surged can fall quickly, especially if investors worry that orders could become lumpy or that competition compresses pricing power.

What’s behind the weekly Nasdaq drawdown

The Nasdaq’s recent slide has not been tied to a single headline. It has been a layering effect:

• Earnings calls that emphasize higher near-term spending

• A rotation toward “safer” sectors after a strong multi-month run in tech

• Anxiety that the market has priced in best-case AI growth too quickly

The result has been a broad de-risking across growth stocks, with the sharpest pressure in parts of software and data-services where investors fear customer budgets could tighten or where new AI tools could disrupt existing business models.

The next catalysts: jobs data timing and rate expectations

Traders are also recalibrating interest-rate expectations. With inflation and growth signals still mixed, every major data release can move the Nasdaq because long-duration growth stocks are especially sensitive to changes in discount rates.

A complicating factor is the calendar: upcoming U.S. labor-market data has been watched closely, and any delay or uncertainty around release timing can raise volatility by forcing investors to position with less clarity. The near-term market question is whether economic resilience keeps policy restrictive for longer—or whether softening data gives room for rate cuts later in 2026.

What to watch into next week

Friday’s bounce may relieve some immediate pressure, but the Nasdaq’s path from here hinges on proof, not promises. Investors are likely to demand clearer answers on three fronts:

1. Capex discipline: Are AI investments accelerating faster than cash flows?

2. Monetization: Which companies can convert AI usage into pricing power and recurring revenue?

3. Breadth: Can the rally extend beyond a narrow group of tech leaders?

If spending keeps rising without a parallel improvement in profitability, the market may continue to trade in sharp swings—rallies on relief, selloffs on budget shock—until results show whether the AI buildout is fueling an earnings boom or a longer digestion period.

Sources consulted: Reuters, Financial Times, Investopedia, Nasdaq