Stock market crash: Nvidia loses $450 billion as chip stocks fall 12%

The stock market crash on Thursday took about $3 trillion off the value of S&P 500 companies, Reuters estimated, and $2.5 trillion off the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73, the Dow lost 1,833 points, or 3.44%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.52% into a correction. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had their worst day since the tariff selloff of April 2025.

Which companies lost the most

Chipmakers fell hardest. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index lost 12.25%, and all 30 of its members closed lower. Nvidia alone lost nearly $450 billion in market value, CNBC reported, and the Magnificent Seven together shed about $1 trillion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Losses among the largest names, by Thursday’s close:

• SanDisk: −22.26%;
• Micron: −17.46%;
• Western Digital: −17.35%;
• AMD: −17.26%;
• Marvell: −16.43%;
• Seagate: −16.25%;
• Arm: −13.08%;
• Tesla: −10.77%;
• Broadcom: −10.43%;
• Intel: −10.33%;
• Qualcomm: −9.49%;
• Nvidia: −9.26%, about $450 billion;
• SpaceX: −9.05%.

The rest of big tech fell less: Meta lost 4%, and Amazon and Alphabet 2.2% each. Trading volume reached 26.9 billion shares, against a 20-day average of 17.7 billion.

Theory one: the midterms and data centers

Reuters and CNBC tie the crash to the midterms. Democrats won control of Congress and key races in Texas and Ohio, and investors expect them to slow the construction of AI data centers. Melissa Brown of SimCorp told Reuters that investors “appear to be recognizing that some newly elected members of Congress and governors are looking to slow” that build-out.

Voters added to the worry. CNBC counted 41 local ballot measures in 10 states that would restrict data centers, and voters backed the restrictions in all but one. In Texas the governor-elect, Gina Hinojosa, promised a moratorium on new sites. UBS strategists estimate that about 30% of the data center capacity expected to come online in 2028 is now at risk.

Theory two: the AI trade and interest rates

Some fund managers blame the AI trade itself. Investors had bought chipmakers on the promise of years of data center spending, and some now fear too much debt and too little revenue. Jed Ellerbroek of Argent Capital Management called Thursday “the capitulation phase for the data center capex beneficiary stocks, especially the semiconductors.”

Interest rates add pressure on companies that borrow to build. The Fed raised rates in September, traders expect another rise in December, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin both hinted at more hikes on Thursday.

Theory three: company news

Company news hit some stocks on top of the politics. Qualcomm’s phone chip sales missed estimates, and chief executive Cristiano Amon blamed a memory shortage: “We don’t have a demand issue; it’s a supply issue.” Bloomberg reported that Micron paused a $4.5 billion plant in Taiwan over a labour dispute.

What it means for crypto

Former bitcoin miners that now rent power to AI companies fell with the chipmakers: IREN and Applied Digital lost more than 14% each. Bitcoin dropped below $76,000, as we covered in our report on chip stocks. The selloff also put Anthropic’s planned IPO valuation in question.

What it means for you

If you hold AI or chip stocks, or miners that switched to AI hosting, watch the policy news from Washington and Texas more than earnings for now. The new Congress sits from January, so none of the restrictions investors fear have passed yet. Nvidia reports on 17 November and will give the first test of whether data center orders hold.

Market data for 5 November 2026 from Reuters, CNBC, Fox Business and Nasdaq closing prices. This is not investment advice.