AI stocks tumble after OpenAI reveals $50 billion revenue pace
Tech stocks fell Thursday after OpenAI told investors its yearly revenue pace was about $50 billion, not the $68 billion widely reported. The drop hit chipmakers and cloud firms that millions of retirement accounts own. The Nasdaq lost more than 1%, its worst day since mid-August, though futures edged higher early Friday.
Stocks tied to artificial intelligence fell hard on Thursday after a report that OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue was about $50 billion at the end of September. That was well below a $68 billion figure that had been widely reported before.
The Financial Times broke the news, and CNBC later confirmed it. A person familiar with the matter said the bigger number also counted gross revenue from OpenAI's partners, while the newer number counts only net revenue, SiliconANGLE reported. OpenAI also pointed investors to 77% growth in its revenue run rate during the third quarter.
The selling spread quickly across the industry. CoreWeave, which rents out AI computing power, fell about 8%, SiliconANGLE reported. Oracle, which holds large contracts with OpenAI, dropped 5.5%. Intel and Super Micro Computer lost about 5%, AMD and Broadcom slid about 4%, and Nvidia shed almost 3%.
The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1%, its biggest one-day loss since mid-August. It was the index's second straight down day after it hit records earlier in the week. The S&P 500 lost 0.5%, while the Dow ended slightly higher.
"If we have a number of days like this ... we could see a real rout in AI-related names," Man Group strategist Kristina Hooper told CNBC.
Why does one company's revenue matter so much? Many tech stocks have climbed this year on the bet that demand for artificial intelligence will keep growing for years. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion. It confidentially filed IPO papers in June but is now eyeing a 2027 debut, SiliconANGLE reported, while its rival Anthropic may list sooner.
The mood was calmer early Friday, as S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures added about 0.5%, CNBC reported. Delta Air Lines reports earnings before the opening bell, and October consumer sentiment data is due in the morning.
What we know: OpenAI told investors its revenue pace was about $50 billion, and AI stocks fell on the news.
What we don't: Whether Thursday's slide becomes a longer sell-off once trading opens Friday.
Where outlets agree CNBC and SiliconANGLE both report that OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue was about $50 billion, below a widely reported $68 billion figure.
Where they differ SiliconANGLE says the $68 billion figure was widely reported two months ago, while CNBC says it was widely reported last month.