Intel and Reddit each lost 29% on Wall Street on Friday, October 30, 2026, the day after their quarterly results. Both falls come down to artificial intelligence (AI), for opposite reasons: soaring memory prices are holding back Intel's PC sales, while AI-generated answers from Google are depriving Reddit of visitors. According to Journal du Coin, the Nasdaq ended October with its worst month since March 2025.

Intel: solid figures, a disappointing forecast

The figures published by Intel Corporation, the American processor maker based in Santa Clara, California, are solid. According to its press release of October 29, 2026, third-quarter revenue reached $16.5 billion, compared with $13.7 billion a year earlier, an increase of 21%. The data center and AI division grew 78%, to $7.3 billion. In the release, chief financial officer David Zinsner called it the strongest data center growth in 15 years.

The forecast for the fourth quarter changed everything. Intel expects revenue of between $15 billion and $16 billion, whereas analysts were counting on around $17 billion, Inside IT reports. Forecast adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents fall well short of the expected 43 cents. The press release also announces a gross margin of 37.1%, compared with 43.0% in the third quarter. An accident at the group's Israeli plant is also expected to cut $300 million from the quarter's sales, according to Journal du Coin.

The market reacted in two stages. The stock was down about 22% in after-hours trading on Thursday, according to Inside IT. The next day, it closed down 29%, at around $66, according to Journal du Coin: Intel's worst session since July 1974, wiping out more than $100 billion in market capitalization. The stock traded at nearly $141 in June. It has therefore lost more than half its value since then, by our calculation.

Interpretations differ. For David Zinsner, Intel delivered "another solid quarter", above its own targets. Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at Bernstein, on the contrary considers the report "terrible" and lowers his price target from $110 to $75, Journal du Coin reports, citing Yahoo Finance. Intel's chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, acknowledged that "rebuilding Intel is going to take several years".

Why memory prices weigh on Intel

The cause of the decline is computer memory, which has become scarce and expensive. According to Inside IT, its price has exploded in recent months, driven by demand to equip AI data centers. As a result, households and businesses are buying fewer computers. David Zinsner says he has been seeing this slowdown for weeks, with no improvement expected until at least the end of the first half of 2027.

Intel puts a figure on the effect in its forecasts. The group expects the PC market to shrink by 12% in 2026, then by 10% in 2027. These are company projections, not observed facts. Lip-Bu Tan believes memory prices will remain a serious problem throughout next year.

The paradox is that AI is also driving Intel. Its press release mentions "extraordinary" demand for its Xeon server processors. But the group was unable to meet it in full, owing to a shortage of certain raw materials and the temporary closure of a plant in Israel, according to Inside IT.

Reddit: sharply higher revenue, eroding traffic

Reddit, Inc., the community forum platform based in San Francisco, published its results on the same day, October 29, 2026. Its press release shows third-quarter revenue of $895 million, up 53% year on year. Net income rose from $163 million to $283 million. The number of daily active uniques grew 12%, to 130.3 million.

The country breakdown tells a different story. In the United States, these daily users fell 2%, to 50.7 million. Among logged-out American visitors, the decline reached 4%. Growth came from international markets, up 24%. For the fourth quarter, Reddit expects revenue of between $1,000 million and $1,030 million.

The shock came from its chief executive, Steve Huffman. According to Journal du Coin, he admitted to investors that visits referred by Google had fallen by more than one million per week on average in October, because of the search engine's AI-generated answers. "AI Mode doesn't send traffic, not to us or to anyone that I'm aware of," he said. Reddit expects to lose daily active users in the fourth quarter. The stock, listed on the New York Stock Exchange and recently added to the S&P 500 index, lost 29% on Friday, according to TradingView prices, and 44% over the week, according to Decrypt, two figures picked up by Journal du Coin.

Two falls, two reasons

IntelReddit
Revenue for Q3 of 2026$16.5 billion (+21%)$895 million (+53%)
Q4 forecast$15 billion to $16 billion$1,000 million to $1,030 million
AI effect citedMore expensive memory, fewer PCs soldGoogle AI answers, fewer visits
Session of October 30, 2026−29%−29%

Sources: Intel and Reddit press releases of October 29, 2026, Inside IT, Journal du Coin.

Nasdaq: an October under pressure

The rest of American tech followed. According to the Reuters market wrap cited by Journal du Coin, the Nasdaq Composite index suffered its steepest drop since June on Friday, and the Nasdaq 100 lost 3.5%. The Composite now stands 7.8% below its record close. Memory maker Sandisk fell 13%.

This is not the first warning. On October 22, 2026, the Nasdaq had already lost 2.60% on concerns about the cost of AI investments, as 2clics noted while tracking the price of gold and copper. Copper, used to power data centers, had fallen along with tech stocks.

The shake-out nevertheless benefits some. Apple has moved back ahead of Nvidia as the world's largest company by market capitalization, at $5,030 billion against $4,940 billion, according to Bloomberg cited by Journal du Coin. "Investors are suddenly voting, and all together, on who will get a return on their investments and who won't," sums up Brian Jacobsen of Annex Wealth Management.

The dollar falls along with tech stocks

The tech sell-off also hit the dollar. According to an AWP/AFP dispatch published by Allnews on October 30, 2026, the greenback was falling against most major currencies at around 19:00 GMT. It lost 0.11% against the pound sterling, at $1.3393 to the pound, and 0.22% against the yen, at 157.37 yen to the dollar.

Analysts at Scotiabank explain the link: "the AI investment cycle has supported the dollar through investors' capital flows". When that cycle causes concern, the support weakens. The euro is the exception: the dollar gained 0.11% against it, at $1.1167 to the euro. The single currency is suffering from the 0.1% decline in French gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter, while US growth accelerated to an annualized 3.4%. This gap extends the tensions already seen in the euro and the Swiss franc in mid-October.

What this means for an investor in Switzerland

For anyone counting in francs, an American share carries two risks at once: the share price and the dollar exchange rate. The October 30 dispatch gives no rate against the franc. But the mechanism is well known: when the dollar weakens against the franc, the same loss in dollars weighs more once converted. In October, the Swiss franc, a safe haven, had already strengthened: one dollar cost nearly 0.84 francs at times early in the month, and 0.82 francs on October 22, according to Keystone-ATS.

The Swiss stock exchange also has a stock tied to the PC market. Logitech International, the peripherals maker founded in 1981 and listed on both the SIX Swiss Exchange and the Nasdaq, published its results on October 27, 2026. Its quarterly sales reached $1.22 billion, up 3%. For the following quarter, the group expects sales of between −5% and 0% in constant currency. This range includes a shortfall of $70 million to $80 million linked to the incident at the plant of one of its semiconductor suppliers. Logitech's press release does not mention memory prices.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is also exposed to equities through its foreign currency investments. At the end of September 2026, its valuation gains on equities reached 23.7 billion francs, according to the SNB's nine-month profit. The October decline is not yet included. The SNB points out that its annual result depends on the markets until December 31.

This article describes market movements and does not constitute investment advice.

What we don't know yet

  • Whether the PC market will indeed shrink by 10% in 2027: this is an Intel forecast, linked to how memory prices develop.
  • Whether Reddit will actually lose daily users in the fourth quarter, as it expects: the answer will come with its next results.
  • The effect of the October decline on the SNB's 2026 result, which will only be known after the financial year closes.

Sources