Intel’s weak Q4 guidance and AI capex fears sink tech stocks; Nasdaq falls over 5% in October

The significance here is less about one chipmaker's quarter than about the market's willingness to fund AI capital spending without visible returns. Intel's guidance miss landed on a sector already primed to question that math, and the SOX's sharp drop shows the doubt is spreading across semiconductors rather than staying company-specific. The open question is whether this becomes a broader repricing of AI capex expectations or a single earnings-driven shock, with upcoming guidance from other chipmakers the clearest test.