Tech stocks tumbled on Thursday (October 30), with major indices closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23% to 47,522.12, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.99% to 6,822.34. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.57% to 23,581.14, ending its record-breaking streak.

Leading the decline, Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) plummeted 11.33% after reporting disappointing quarterly results, and Microsoft (MSFT) declined 2.92%, as investors grew wary of rising AI-related expenditures.

During the earnings call, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed market concerns, stating the company has contingency plans if infrastructure investments prove excessive. He suggested redirecting surplus computing power to core operations or selling it to other firms. "We haven’t taken such steps yet," he clarified, "but it’s a viable option if overcapacity arises."

Meta’s Q3 revenue rose 26% year-over-year to $51.24 billion, but net profit cratered 83% to $2.71 billion ($1.05 per share), far below the $6.68 consensus. The sharp decline stemmed from a $15.93 billion non-cash tax expense tied to the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," spiking its effective tax rate from 12% to 87%. Excluding this, adjusted net profit would have reached $18.64 billion ($7.25 per share), up 20% and surpassing estimates.

Meanwhile, Meta reportedly plans to cut ~600 jobs in its AI division, signaling a shift toward streamlining operations post-expansion.

Chip stocks also faltered, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 1.53%. NVIDIA (NVDA) slid 2%, dipping below a $5 trillion market cap, while AMD and Broadcom fell 3.59% and 2.46%, respectively.

Other tech giants struggled: Tesla (TSLA) dropped 4.63%, Oracle slid 6.69%, and Palantir lost 2.14%. Apple (AAPL) edged up 0.63%, with after-hours gains of nearly 4% on stronger iPhone sales (+6.1% YoY).

Most China-concept stocks closed lower, including Pony.ai (-6.79%), Baidu (-4.54%), Alibaba (-3.36%), and JD.com (-2.88%). TAL Education and New Oriental bucked the trend, rising 7.32% and 3.91%, respectively.