AI credit-fear selloff accelerates into Friday close: Nasdaq -2.1%, worst week since June; CoreWeave -12%
What happened
U.S. stocks fell sharply into Friday's close as fears mounted that AI profits will not arrive fast enough to cover the increasingly expensive debt funding the data-center buildout. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.1% on Friday and 4.5% for the week, its worst week since late June, while the S&P 500 fell 1.1% Friday and about 2% for the week, also its worst since June. The Dow slipped 0.3% Friday but still gained about 0.7% for the week. CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed neocloud at the center of the credit worries, plunged 12% Friday, erasing Thursday's Huang-inspired rebound and leaving it down 25% for the week. Chip and chip-equipment names led the decline, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF down 3.3% Friday and over 10% for the week.
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Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- Nasdaq Composite (-2.1% Friday, -4.5% week)
- S&P 500 (-1.1% Friday, ~-2% week)
- Dow (-0.3% Friday but +0.7% week)
- CoreWeave (CRWV, -12% Friday, -25% week, down over 50% from 2026 highs and over 65% from post-IPO peak)
- VanEck Semiconductor ETF (-3.3% Friday, down over 10% week)
- SanDisk, AMD, Micron (-5.7% to -6.7% Friday)
- KLA (-5%) and Lam Research (-4.9%), each on a record 10-day losing streak
- Applied Materials (-4.8%)
- Twilio (-11%, largest drop since Aug 2025)
- Strategy (-9.6%, extending MSCI-index-exclusion pressure)
- Tesla (-2.1%)
- Netflix (-2.8% on content-chief change)
- Oracle also under pressure in the AI-debt trade
- Brent crude surged to $109.86 (+3.7%), highest since May.