Plus, we break down next week’s market catalysts to watch to help you prepare for the week ahead.
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This week’s tech market round-up
The tech space was marked by heightened volatility this week, with sharp swings driven by concerns over inflated artificial intelligence (AI) valuations and mixed economic data.
Global markets gained early in the week, driven by optimism over a US-China trade truce, along with a US$38 billion AI cloud deal between OpenAI and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
However, gains were tempered following comments from the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong, where Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) CEO David Solomon warned of a likely 10 to 20 percent pullback in equities within the next 12 to 24 months. Other panelists at the event offered similar projections.
Futures tracking the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) weakened ahead of the release of Canada’s federal budget, which promises C$925.6 million for sovereign compute capacity, quantum tech funding and support for open banking and stablecoins. The government aims to attract C$500 billion in private sector investment over five years.
US tech stocks sold off again on Wednesday (November 5) amid uncertainty over the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling and short positions by Michael Burry on NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR).
A stronger-than-expected ADP report helped stabilize the tech sector midday, but October jobs data weighed on markets again Thursday (November 6), cooling risk appetite, especially for AI momentum stocks.
Wall Street’s main indexes extended losses to a second session on Friday (November 7) and posted weekly declines as the Volatility Index (INDEXCBOE:VIX) hit its highest level in a fortnight, just one week after the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) notched their longest winning streak in four and seven years, respectively.
Traders were pricing in a 70.2 percent chance of a 25 basis point interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve in December at the time of this writing, down from 90 percent last week.
3 tech stocks moving markets this week
1. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Palantir reported a strong Q3 earnings beat with a year-on-year revenue increase of 63 percent to US$1.18 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of US$1.09 billion.
Earnings per share were also above forecasts, coming in at US$0.21 compared to expectations of US$0.17.
The company’s total contract value rose to US$2.76 billion, a record high, driven by a 121 percent rise in US commercial revenue and a 52 percent increase in US government revenue.
The company also raised its full-year 2025 revenue guidance to around US$4.4 billion, driven by continued strong AI demand and government contracts. On the earnings call, management expressed confidence in continued growth fueled by AI, emphasizing strategic partnerships with companies like NVIDIA, while acknowledging challenges in the European market and operational scaling.
However, Palantir’s share price dropped about 3 percent in after-hours trading. Analysts attributed the market reaction to concerns over the prolonged US government shutdown potentially impacting contracts, alongside a large bearish bet revealed by Michael Burry’s fund.
The company’s stock is down 14 percent for the week.
2. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Shares of Amazon rallied on Monday morning after announcing a US$38 billion multi-year partnership with OpenAI to run its advanced AI workloads on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure, providing access to hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs and specialized AWS chips.
The deal significantly strengthens AWS’s position in the AI cloud market. Investors had a marked reaction to the news, driving Amazon’s shares price to a record high of US$US$254.
However, gains were partially erased during the broader tech sector pullback. Its stock ultimately closed the week down 4.28 percent.
3. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Shares of NVIDIA have been dragged down this week due to valuation concerns and fears related to US export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China.
During a 60 Minutes interview with Norah O’Donnell on Sunday (November 2) evening that covered a range of topics, President Trump stated NVIDIA’s most advanced AI chips would be reserved exclusively for US companies. The market reacted by sending shares of NVIDIA (up or down?) on Monday morning.
Also on Monday, Microsoft provided an update on its US$15.2 billion planned investment in the UAE, which will include increasing its AI computing power in the UAE by four times to reach the equivalent of 60,400 NVIDIA A100 GPUs in compute power in the country.
NVIDIA shares, also boosted by Loop Capital raising its price target by US$100, rose by over four percent from Friday’s closing price in early trading.
However, a large bearish position against NVIDIA was disclosed from Burry’s fund on Wednesday, adding to downward pressure already on its shares amidst a tech stock sell-off.
During a Thursday press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “was not interested in selling (the Blackwell chip) to China at this time”.
Meanwhile, during the Financial Times’ Future of AI Summit, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the West is being held back by “cynicism” and reportedly told the outlet, “China is going to win the AI race.”
Huang has previously warned that US restrictions could backfire by accelerating China’s domestic chip development, arguing the US should stay engaged with Chinese developers to maintain leadership. The company’s shares are down 9.53 percent for the week.
NVIDIA, Palantir and Amazon performance, November 3 to 7, 2025.
Chart via Google Finance.
Top tech news of the week
Tech ETF performance
Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of different sectors.
This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) declined by 4.81 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) saw a weekly loss of 5.2 percent.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) decreased by 5.41 percent.
Tech news to watch next week
Next week, investors will hear earnings results from Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), due to report its Q1FY26 earnings on November 12. The company is expected to deliver a year-on-year increase in earnings on higher revenues. Semiconductor equipment supplier, Applied Materials, is also set to report its Q4 earnings on November 13.
AMD will have its Financial Analyst Day on Tuesday (November 11), providing further strategic updates and outlook.
Analysts and investors will also be watching for any sign of an end to the 38-day government shutdown after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled a plan to attach a one year extension to the expiring Obamacare subsidies and to create a bipartisan committee that could negotiate further on how to deal with the subsidies after the government reopened. Majority leader John Thune reportedly told CBS News that the Democratic proposal is a ‘nonstarter’.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
