Stock Market Today - AI Stocks NVDA,AMD,QCOM Crash, Layoffs Spike, and Tesla’s $1 Trillion Vote Rattles Markets

Wall Street Pulls Back as AI Euphoria Fades, Massive Layoffs Shock Labor Market, and Tesla’s Trillion-Dollar Vote Dominates Focus

U.S. equities reversed early-week optimism on Thursday as investors digested a wave of disappointing earnings, mounting layoff data, and renewed fears that AI valuations have reached unsustainable extremes. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) dropped 1.65% to 23,112.78, its sharpest decline in over two weeks, while the S&P 500 (SPX) fell 0.97% to 6,730.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 351 points, or 0.74%, closing at 46,959.98, pressured by weakness across technology and consumer discretionary sectors. Volatility surged with the Cboe VIX jumping nearly 10% to 19.75, and the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield slid to 4.09%, its lowest in ten days as traders fled to safety amid mounting macro uncertainty.

AI Sector Under Fire: Qualcomm, AMD, Nvidia, and Palantir Lose Momentum

The artificial intelligence complex, which fueled Wall Street’s summer rally, became the epicenter of Thursday’s selloff. Qualcomm (QCOM) shares dropped 4.2% to $172.21 even after reporting a solid fiscal Q4 beat with adjusted EPS of $3.00 versus $2.88 expected and revenue of $11.27 billion surpassing the $10.79 billion estimate. The company’s bullish forecast—$11.8 to $12.6 billion in Q1 revenue and EPS up to $3.50—was overshadowed by confirmation that Apple (AAPL) plans to move away from Qualcomm’s modems, a long-feared blow to its future revenue streams.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which had surged over 2% a day earlier, tumbled 7% after investors reassessed whether its AI-driven datacenter gains can justify its stretched valuation multiples. Nvidia (NVDA), the poster child of the AI boom, slipped 2%, extending its week-to-date loss to nearly 6%, while Palantir Technologies (PLTR) fell 3% despite strong defense sector demand. The declines reaffirmed concerns that the “AI super-cycle” may be entering a consolidation phase, with Wall Street rotation favoring defensives over hyper-growth tech.

Quantum Stocks Rise as AI Fades: Rigetti, D-Wave, IonQ Outperform the Trend

In sharp contrast to big-cap AI weakness, quantum computing shares extended their astonishing 2025 rally. D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) has skyrocketed 2,700% year-to-date, Rigetti Computing (RGTI) surged 3,100%, and Quantum Computing (QUBT) jumped over 1,100%, while IonQ (IONQ) advanced 250%. The outperformance of this newer tech frontier mirrors what AI names achieved post-ChatGPT’s release in 2023, suggesting speculative money is rotating from one disruptive sector to another. However, analysts warn that valuations for several quantum names now rival the peaks of last year’s AI frenzy, a potential red flag for short-term traders.

Layoff Wave Raises Recession Fears: 153,074 Job Cuts in October, Highest Since 2003

A key catalyst for the day’s market decline was the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report, revealing 153,074 U.S. job cuts in October—a 183% surge month-over-month and 175% jump year-over-year, marking the worst October in 22 years. This figure also positions 2025 as the worst layoff year since 2009, signaling that corporate America is bracing for an earnings slowdown. Tech, finance, and manufacturing sectors led the reductions, with executives citing automation, AI integration, and tariff uncertainty as primary reasons. The report arrived amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, now on its 37th day, limiting access to official labor data and amplifying reliance on private surveys to gauge economic health.

Corporate Turbulence: Duolingo, Celsius, CarMax, and E.l.f. Beauty Crater on Weak Outlooks

Earnings season remained brutal for mid-cap growth names. Duolingo (DUOL) collapsed 29% to $184.29, its worst session since listing, after projecting Q4 bookings between $329.5–$335.5 million, far below Wall Street’s $344.3 million estimate. The firm’s focus on long-term expansion over short-term monetization unnerved investors, pushing its EBITDA guidance down to $75.4–$78.8 million.
Celsius Holdings (CELH) plunged 24% to $45.40, marking its biggest drop since 2020, as its integration of Alani Nu into PepsiCo’s (PEP) distribution network is expected to temporarily disrupt Q4 results despite 173% year-over-year revenue growth.
Meanwhile, CarMax (KMX) slid 10% premarket, following the ousting of CEO Bill Nash and a bleak forecast showing EPS of just $0.18–$0.36, compared with consensus expectations of $0.70. The used-car retailer warned of up to a 12% drop in comparable store sales and increased marketing expenses as it attempts to reposition the brand.
E.l.f. Beauty (ELF) also suffered a historic 32% crash to $79.42, after slashing FY26 EPS guidance to $2.80–$2.85 from analyst expectations of $3.53, fueling concerns of margin compression even as sales rise.

Winners Amid Chaos: Marvell, Forge Global, and AppLovin Defy the Trend

While most of Wall Street saw red, select outperformers offered a rare bright spot. Marvell Technology (MRVL) gained nearly 4% to $93.24 following reports that SoftBank (9984.T) explored a potential takeover to merge it with Arm Holdings (ARM). The rumor underscored Japan’s renewed ambition to consolidate semiconductor power after Arm’s blockbuster IPO earlier this year.
Forge Global (FRGE) rocketed 68% to $44.01 after Charles Schwab (SCHW) announced a $660 million all-cash acquisition valuing Forge at $45 per share, expanding Schwab’s reach into private equity liquidity.
AppLovin (APP) rose 3% after exceeding quarterly forecasts, highlighting resilience in ad-tech spending even as peers falter, while Datadog (DDOG) surged 22%, reaffirming strength in cloud observability demand.

Tesla in the Spotlight: Shareholder Vote on Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Package

The day’s most closely watched corporate event remained Tesla’s (TSLA) shareholder meeting, where investors voted on CEO Elon Musk’s unprecedented $1 trillion compensation plan. Shares fell 2% to $238, as uncertainty loomed over whether institutional giants like Vanguard (VTI), BlackRock (BLK), and Schwab Asset Management (SCHW) would approve the package. Tesla board members Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson defended the proposal, claiming Musk’s leadership is “vital to navigating Tesla’s AI and robotics expansion.” The final tally will be disclosed in a forthcoming SEC filing, with analysts suggesting a rejection could trigger short-term volatility across the EV and AI sectors.

Macro Overview: Bonds Rally, Oil Slips, Gold Holds Near $4,000, Bitcoin Retreats

As equities faltered, safe havens strengthened. The 10-year Treasury yield declined to 4.094%, while the 2-year dropped to 3.57%, with bond demand surging after the layoff shock. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) weakened to 99.85, extending its weekly decline as traders bet the Federal Reserve will maintain an accommodative tone following October’s rate cut.
Commodities traded mixed: Gold futures (GC00) hovered at $3,986.50/oz, near record highs, while WTI crude (CL00) dipped 1.01% to $59.00 amid concerns that a prolonged shutdown will dent travel demand.
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) retreated 1.7% to $102,068, briefly testing the $100,000 level earlier this week, as speculative momentum cooled across risk assets.

Market Sentiment Turns Defensive: Analysts Warn of Valuation Extremes and Overbought Conditions

Strategists across Wall Street echoed growing caution. Apollo Global Management’s (APO) Torsten Slok warned that the Shiller CAPE ratio above 40 and the Buffett Indicator at record highs signal a dangerously overextended market, levels unseen since the dot-com bubble. Similarly, portfolio managers cited Michael Burry’s recent short positions as a sign of growing skepticism toward the “Magnificent Seven” mega-cap stocks.
Meanwhile, BNY’s Bob Savage noted that gold near $4,000 and oil anchored around $60 suggest investors are quietly hedging against equity corrections through commodities.

TradingNews Verdict: Short-Term Caution, Selective Accumulation

After weeks of exuberant risk-taking, the market’s tone has turned defensive. The AI complex looks overbought, and with layoffs spiking, valuations stretched, and earnings guidance weakening, the near-term outlook skews bearish for the Nasdaq and semiconductor-heavy ETFs (SOXX, SMH). However, select takeover speculation in names like Marvell (MRVL) and Forge Global (FRGE) hints that M&A momentum remains strong in tech infrastructure.
TradingNews’ analysis positions the broader market as a short-term HOLD, with tactical BUY ratings on value-driven names like Schwab (SCHW) post-acquisition and Datadog (DDOG) on accelerating cloud adoption. Conversely, AI-heavy megacaps including NVDA, AMD, and PLTR are viewed as overextended, warranting profit-taking until earnings visibility improves.

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