Nasdaq −2.6% as the AI bill comes due; Meta −7%, Moderna −18%

TL;DR

The AI trade cracked. The Nasdaq fell 2.60% (its worst day since June) and the S&P 500 1.21% (worst since July), while the Dow edged up 0.02%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 6.72%. Meta fell 7% after its first cash burn in more than a decade.
Investors ran to safety: the 10-year Treasury yield fell 18.5 basis points to 4.961%, its biggest one-day drop since March 2023. Brent crude jumped 4% to $113.17 on reports of renewed US-Israeli attack plans on Iran.

📊 Indices (close, Thu 22 Oct)

Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	52,867.98	+11.89 (+0.02%)
S&P 500	7,663.43	−93.74 (−1.21%)
Nasdaq Composite	26,008.86	−694.00 (−2.60%)

🪙 Crypto (Fri morning)

Bitcoin: about $81,600, down about 1.4% over 24h.
Ether: about $2,400, down about 1.6% over 24h.

🚀 Movers

Moderna (MRNA) −17.6% to $202.63. Phase 3 data for its melanoma vaccine with Merck leaked early. The results were positive (42% lower risk of recurrence or death), but analysts called it "sell the news" after the stock rose more than 500% this year.
Nokia (NOK) −14.8% to $7.88. Q3 beat estimates, but it cut its free-cash-flow conversion guidance to 35%–55% from 55%–75% and raised 2026 restructuring charges to €1.1B.
Lam Research (LRCX) −11.8% to $230.15. It flagged supply constraints and gave an outlook only roughly in line with expectations.
SpaceX (SPCX) −9.1% to $144.75. Worries about funding the $35B–$40B of capex it plans for Q4, plus a Reuters report that its Tesla merger talks could face scrutiny and delays.
Meta (META) −7.0% to $648.85. Free cash flow was negative $2.12B, it raised the bottom of its 2026 capex range to $135B, and it plans to sell new non-voting shares. Its credit default swaps hit a record.

🤖 AI/Tech story: who pays for the AI build-out?

Thursday's sell-off was about the cost of AI, not demand for it. Nvidia's Jensen Huang told CNBC that "there's a scarcity of capital" for the neoclouds renting out AI computing. Nvidia fell 4.4%, AMD 8.1% and Broadcom 4.31%. Meta's plan to fund AI with new stock signals that the biggest chip buyers may lean more on share sales and debt than spare cash. Next test: Anthropic may make its IPO prospectus public as soon as today. It would be the first detailed look at one AI developer's spending commitments.

👀 What to watch today (times CEST)

Done: Asian markets fell. South Korea's Kospi was down 2.42%. Early Friday, S&P 500 futures were −0.04% and Nasdaq-100 futures +0.11% (CNBC).
12:50 / 13:00: SLB and American Express report.
15:30: US open. Can chips find a floor after the SOX's 6.7% drop?
16:00: University of Michigan consumer sentiment (final, October).
Any time: Anthropic's public S-1 filing.
Note: Europe switches to CET on Sunday; US clocks change 1 Nov, so next week the US opens at 14:30 our time.

Sources: AP and portfolio-terminal.com closes (22 Oct); Exa market data (DJI/IXIC, 22 Oct); CNBC live updates (22–23 Oct: yields, oil, futures, Asia, Huang); CNBC and Reuters on Meta; Meta Q3 2026 press release; Bullstory turnover table (META, SPCX, AMD closes); CNBC, Reuters and WSJ on Moderna; StreetInsider, MarketWatch and Motley Fool on Nokia; Invested Alpha on chips and Lam (Yahoo Finance data); Seeking Alpha and Motley Fool on SpaceX; Yahoo Finance on Anthropic's S-1; Newsquawk earnings schedule (23 Oct); CoinGecko prices (23 Oct, 06:21 CEST).

Informational only. Not financial advice.