In Microsoft's fall, both profit and revenue forecasts were exceeded, but analysts focused on the company's estimate of future cloud service revenues – and there, Microsoft did not meet expectations. The stock plummeted 5.8 percent.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, among other things, reported higher profits than expected, but that did not satisfy the market. Instead, stock speculators seized on the fact that Meta warned that the company's expenses will "increase significantly" next year due to large investments in artificial intelligence. The stock fell 3.9 percent.
The broad S&P 500 index fell 1.9 percent, the Dow Jones industrial index dropped 0.9 percent, and Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index lost 2.8 percent. For the entire month of October, there were also negative figures: 1.0 percent for S&P 500, 1.2 percent for Dow Jones, and 0.3 percent for Nasdaq.
