Intel and Amazon plunge after earnings; traders watch key support levels

Amazon and Intel shares fell after their earnings announcements, with robust AI growth proving insufficient to avert a selloff.

Amazon's cloud segment posted a 39% sales increase, while Intel's data-center revenue climbed 78%. Despite those gains, both companies saw steep stock declines. Market participants are now scrutinizing the expense and durability of such growth. Ahead of Friday's session, key price thresholds are being monitored.

After the October 29 earnings reports, Amazon (AMZN) and Intel (INTC) stocks dropped heavily, even though their cloud and data-center operations showed strong expansion. Amazon's substantial AI expenditure is eating into free cash flow, whereas Intel's underwhelming forecast casts doubt on its turnaround. For market participants, the key question is whether the after-hours decline will draw sustained demand.

At 4:50 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 29, 2026, prior to the earnings calls scheduled for 5 p.m., the following after-hours levels were observed:

• Amazon was around $228.62, 6.4% below its five-minute pre-release reference of about $244.23.
• Intel traded near $76.83, down 16.6% from its reference of roughly $92.08.
• Nasdaq futures declined roughly 1.23% over the same initial reaction period.

These figures represent extended-hours trading data, not closing prices from the regular session nor live market quotes.

Amazon's AWS business is expanding rapidly, but shareholders are focusing on cash generation.

The company reported a quarter that included several notably strong metrics.

As per the official third-quarter earnings release, revenue grew 12% to roughly $201.94 billion, just shy of the $202.2 billion analysts had anticipated.

Amazon Web Services stood out with revenue of roughly $46 billion, a 39.3% increase from the previous year and the segment's quickest expansion in nearly five years.

Operating income climbed to $28.1 billion, yielding a record operating margin of 13.9%.

Such numbers do not reflect a company that is having difficulty generating growth or operating profits.

What, then, caused the stock to decline?

The reason seems to involve the costs of that growth, the cash it consumes, and whether shareholders think future gains will validate current spending.

Over the past twelve months, Amazon posted negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion, versus positive free cash flow of $14.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

That represents a $57.2 billion swing.

Notably, this does not imply that Amazon's operations have ceased to produce cash. Operating cash flow for the trailing twelve months actually rose 29% to $168.3 billion. The gap is mainly tied to the massive spending needed for infrastructure, particularly for artificial intelligence.

The company reaffirmed its forecast of roughly $220 billion in cash capital expenditures for 2026.

At the same time, fourth-quarter revenue guidance ranging from $240 billion to $247 billion results in a midpoint of $243.5 billion, slightly beneath the analyst consensus of about $244.5 billion.

Third-quarter earnings per share of $1.89 also fell short of the $1.97 estimate. However, the year-ago EPS figure was boosted by $9.5 billion in pretax profits from Amazon's Anthropic investments. Consequently, it would be deceptive to view the year-over-year headline EPS change as indicating similar weakness in core operations.

The real issue is not whether Amazon can expand its AI operations. The latest numbers show considerable demand.

The tougher question is how much of that growth will eventually flow to shareholders once the necessary infrastructure is paid for.

This is a different measure than just showing rapid cloud revenue growth.

The initial bounce in Amazon shares has already regained much of the lost ground.

The immediate price drop was harsh.

Amazon dropped from its five-minute pre-release level of roughly $244.23 to an after-hours trough near $214.01, a fall of about 12.4%.

Subsequent buying activity lifted the stock significantly from that low point.

By the 4:50 p.m. ET data snapshot, Amazon traded near $228.62, still roughly 6.4% below its reference price.

This rebound deserves attention but does not yet provide convincing evidence that the selloff is over.

Key price levels to monitor for Amazon

The $224.90 to $229.10 range serves as the initial support test. This zone offers the first chance to gauge if the bounce is building a base. Holding this area on subsequent pullbacks would improve the short-term recovery case. Repeated failures to defend it would leave the stock vulnerable to renewed pressure.

$232.30-$234.90: The first meaningful recovery hurdle. If buyers push beyond the initial stabilization zone, this is the next area where the strength of the rebound can be evaluated. A brief price spike into the region is less meaningful than a sustained move above it, followed by evidence that buyers can defend the reclaimed prices.

$239.70-$244.25: The higher recovery region. This area extends toward Amazon's pre-earnings price reference. Reaching it would represent a much more substantial recovery from the earnings shock. It would not, by itself, resolve concerns about AI spending or free cash flow.

$219.70, followed by $213-$214: Downside areas. A renewed breakdown would put the first lower observation level near $219.70 into focus. Below that, the market would be approaching the initial earnings low. Whether buyers defend that low, or sellers force prices through it, could help determine the next phase.

Intel's data-center strength faces a much weaker forecast

Intel's selloff was considerably more severe, despite an earnings report that contained encouraging signs of operational improvement.

Its official third-quarter results showed revenue increasing 21% to approximately $16.5 billion.

Non-GAAP earnings reached $0.52 per share, ahead of analyst expectations near $0.40. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.60.

Intel's Data Center and AI business increased revenue 78% to $7.3 billion.

GAAP gross margin also improved to 43%, compared with 38.2% a year earlier.

Yet the market reaction demonstrates the danger of looking at the quarter in isolation.

Intel expects fourth-quarter revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion. The midpoint of $15.5 billion is approximately 9.2% below the $17.07 billion consensus cited by Reuters.

The company also forecasts fourth-quarter non-GAAP EPS of $0.25, substantially below expectations around $0.43.

That is a significant gap in forward expectations, especially for a company whose stock had already experienced a powerful rally during 2026.

The personal-computer business presents another challenge. Revenue from Intel's Client Computing and Physical AI group declined 5% to $8.1 billion, and management expects weakness in the PC market to persist at least through the first half of 2027.

There is also an important manufacturing issue.

Reuters reports that an October disruption at Intel's Kiryat Gat production facility in Israel is expected to reduce revenue by approximately $300 million in the fourth quarter and a similar amount in the first quarter of 2027.

That adds a specific near-term supply constraint to the broader demand and execution challenges.

For Intel shareholders, the positive development is that data-center demand and operating performance have improved significantly.

The negative is that those improvements are not currently sufficient to prevent a sharp downgrade in the near-term outlook.

Intel's initial rebound does not guarantee a bottom

Intel's immediate after-hours response was dramatic.

From approximately $92.08 before the announcement, the shares fell to $71.20, a decline of roughly 22.7%.

A rebound subsequently lifted the stock as high as $79.16.

But the recovery struggled to hold, with the latest completed five-minute bar at the supplied 4:50 p.m. cutoff closing near $76.83.

That leaves Intel approximately 16.6% below its pre-earnings reference.

The important distinction now is between a temporary rebound following aggressive selling and a more convincing recovery in which buyers begin to regain control.

Intel price levels to watch

$77.15-$80.00: The first recovery decision area. This is the immediate region traders should monitor. A sustained reclaim would suggest that buyers are becoming more successful in absorbing the initial selling pressure. Repeated failures beneath the area, particularly if accompanied by lower rebound highs, would favor continued caution.

$84.60-$86.20: The more significant recovery test. Reaching this region would represent meaningful progress beyond the first rebound. It is also important because it includes the lower boundary of the supplied pre-event options-implied price range. An implied range reflects options pricing expectations, not a guaranteed limit on how far a stock can move.

$71.20-$72.55: The initial selloff-low region. A return toward this area could become particularly informative. If selling slows and buyers establish a higher low, the market may be starting to absorb the earnings disappointment. A sustained breakdown would weaken that interpretation.

$69.70-$70.00: The next lower observation area. If the initial low fails decisively, this becomes the next downside area to monitor. It is not a prediction that Intel must reach $70.

The Nasdaq reaction provides additional context

One of the most useful observations is that Amazon and Intel weakened considerably more than the technology benchmark during the initial reaction.

Nasdaq futures declined approximately 1.23% over the comparable observation window.

Amazon underperformed that move by about 5.16 percentage points, while Intel underperformed by roughly 15.33 percentage points.

This matters because it helps distinguish a broad market decline from selling pressure concentrated in individual companies.

The relative weakness suggests that stock-specific earnings information was an important part of the market's repricing. It does not establish the precise contribution of every headline or the direction of causation.

There is also a broader context to this earnings week.

In investingLive's earlier Amazon and Intel earnings preview, the central question was whether AI-driven growth could justify the spending and support future cash flow.

That question now looks particularly relevant.

The selling also follows Alphabet's sharp earnings reaction, where strong cloud growth was overshadowed by concerns surrounding search performance and heavy investment.

However, it would be premature to conclude that investors have turned against AI investment universally.

Different companies have different cash-generation profiles, demand trends and expectations already reflected in their valuations.

What these results suggest is that the market is becoming more demanding about the financial returns on AI investment, not necessarily questioning whether demand for AI infrastructure exists.

Friday's session could provide a clearer test of the durability of the initial repricing.

A constructive recovery: Amazon reclaims its first recovery zone and makes progress toward $232.30-$234.90, while Intel can hold above $77.15-$80.00 and build higher lows. Such behavior would suggest that at least part of the initial selling pressure is being absorbed.

Continued selling pressure: Amazon fails to defend the $224.90-$229.10 region and moves toward $219.70, while Intel repeatedly fails below $80 and returns toward $71.20-$72.55. That would suggest the early rebounds were insufficient to establish meaningful stabilization.

No clear resolution: Both stocks move erratically within their large after-hours ranges, with neither buyers nor sellers gaining convincing control. In that case, waiting for better price confirmation may be more useful than trying to predict the next move from an isolated price spike.

The first 30-60 minutes of Friday's regular session deserve attention, particularly in relation to Nasdaq futures and the price zones above. However, the opening period can also produce false breaks and substantial volatility.

The scheduled company conference calls may materially change expectations before that session begins.

Key takeaways from Amazon and Intel earnings

There is a useful distinction here for traders and investors.

Amazon has demonstrated rapid cloud growth and record operating profitability, but its heavy spending is putting pressure on free cash flow.

Intel has demonstrated substantial improvement in data-center demand and margins, but the next-quarter outlook is considerably weaker than investors expected.

Both developments can be true at the same time.

For longer-term investors, the important questions concern sustainable growth, capital efficiency, execution and valuation.

For shorter-term traders, the next opportunity to learn something comes from how prices behave after the initial earnings shock.

Strong results can still disappoint a market with even stronger expectations. And sometimes, the reaction to the reaction tells us more than the first move itself.

Market data reflects the after-hours snapshot as of 4:50 p.m. ET on October 29, 2026. Extended-hours trading may involve volatility and reduced liquidity. The price zones mentioned are conditional observation areas and do not constitute trading advice. This is for educational purposes only. Trading carries risk.