Shares of technology companies fell sharply amid mixed signals from the artificial intelligence boom.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms surged as its use of artificial intelligence in digital advertising generated robust revenue growth.
Microsoft shares plunged for their biggest loss since the pandemic. The software giant's capital spending on data-center development looked set to outstrip growth in cloud-computing revenue derived from AI.
"Microsoft got absolutely taken out to the cleaners today," said JJ Kinahan, senior vice president at CBOE Global Markets. "They're spending so much money on AI without perhaps the return that people would expect...To me, shows that the product is starting to mature. It's not just...'some magical thing.' Now, you have a product and analysts are saying 'tell us about the product...what's it costing, what's it returning.'"
International Business Machines shares rose after the information-technology consulting firm said it was seeing more demand from customers for coordinating sprawling AI implementation.
SAP shares plunged after the German business-software group's cloud backlog and sales guidance disappointed investors.
U.S. regulators are launching an investigation into Waymo after one of the company's robotaxis hit a child during drop-off hours near an elementary school in Santa Monica, Calif.
Amazon.com is in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, in what would be a giant bet on the hot AI startup.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 29, 2026 17:48 ET (22:48 GMT)
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