U.S. equity futures edged lower on Friday as selling pressure in technology stocks lingered. E-commerce heavyweight Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) unveiled an aggressive increase in capital spending, while automaker Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) announced a major shift in strategy away from electric vehicles. Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) extended its decline, and oil markets remained cautious ahead of expected talks between the United States and Iran.
Amazon flags major jump in capital investment
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) was among the final big technology groups to report earnings after Thursday’s Wall Street close, and it echoed peers by signalling a substantial ramp-up in investment aimed at expanding its artificial intelligence capabilities.
Chief executive Andy Jassy said the company plans to commit $200 billion to AI-related investment in 2026, representing a more than 50% increase in capital expenditure this year. The scale of the spending plans unsettled investors, sending Amazon shares sharply lower in after-hours trading.
The announcement reinforced the view that Big Tech remains firmly committed to heavy AI investment. The four leading hyperscalers—Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta—are now expected to collectively spend more than $630 billion this year.
On the results side, Amazon reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $213.39 billion, up 13.6% year on year, narrowly missing profit expectations. Amazon Web Services delivered revenue of $35.6 billion in the December quarter, with sales growth of 24%, its strongest pace in 13 quarters.
Although AWS accounts for only around 15% to 20% of total revenue, it generates more than 60% of Amazon’s operating profit.
“Amazon delivered a slightly mixed picture with strong overall revenue growth and a standout boost from the cloud unit’s much anticipated reacceleration picking up greater speed,” Emarketer principal analyst Sky Canaves said.
U.S. futures dip as Wall Street braces for a weak week
U.S. stock futures moved lower early Friday, extending recent losses as Amazon’s post-earnings slide added pressure to the broader tech sector. At 03:35 ET, S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.4%, and Dow futures slipped 0.1%.
The main Wall Street indices closed sharply lower on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6%, the S&P 500 fell 1.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 500 points. The Nasdaq is heading for its worst weekly decline since early April, down about 4%, while the S&P 500 has fallen roughly 2%. The Dow is broadly flat for the week.
Further earnings are due later Friday, including reports from Under Armour (NYSE:UAA), Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), AutoNation (NYSE:AN) and Philip Morris (NYSE:PM). The closely watched U.S. jobs report, initially scheduled for Friday, has been postponed to next week following the resolution of the federal government shutdown.
Separately, figures from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that announced job cuts by U.S. employers jumped in January to their highest level for the month in 17 years.
Stellantis books large charge in “strategic shift”
Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) said it will take a charge of roughly €22 billion ($26.5 billion) related to a reassessment of its electric vehicle strategy, resulting in a preliminary loss of between €19 billion and €21 billion in the second half of 2025.
The automaker said most of the write-downs stem from revisions to its product roadmap, reflecting sharply lower assumptions for EV demand.
“The charges announced today largely reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition that distanced us from many car buyers’ real-world needs, means and desires,” said Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa in a statement.
The Franco-Italian group described the move as a “strategic shift” as it adapts to high costs and slower-than-expected EV sales. Stellantis, alongside other major European manufacturers such as Volkswagen, has also called for subsidies to support car production in the EU amid pressure from U.S. tariffs and increasing competition from China.
Bitcoin slides toward steep weekly losses
Bitcoin weakened further on Friday, putting the world’s largest cryptocurrency on track for a sharp weekly decline as appetite for risk continued to fade. Bitcoin dropped more than 9% to around $64,730, after earlier falling to a 16-month low near $60,100.
The digital currency was heading for a third consecutive weekly loss and was down more than 20% over the week. It has now lost over half its value from the record high reached in October and has erased all gains made since President Donald Trump’s election victory in late 2024.
Bitcoin has been dragged lower by a broader retreat from speculative assets, with selling pressure intensifying after Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as his preferred candidate to chair the Federal Reserve. Warsh has previously opposed the Fed’s asset-purchase programmes, and expectations of a leaner central bank balance sheet have weighed on crypto markets.
Adding to the negative tone, major corporate holder Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) reported a significantly wider fourth-quarter loss on Thursday, largely due to declines in the value of its Bitcoin holdings.
Oil rebounds, but weekly losses remain likely
Oil prices rose on Friday but were still heading for their first weekly decline in almost two months, as investors awaited the outcome of U.S.–Iran talks later in the day. Brent crude gained 1.3% to $68.38 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.4% to $64.19.
Despite the bounce, Brent was set to finish the week down 3.3% and WTI lower by around 1.8%, with U.S. and Iranian officials due to meet in Oman amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Markets have been hoping that dialogue between Washington and Tehran could help ease tensions and reduce the risk of a broader conflict, prompting traders to strip some geopolitical risk premium out of oil prices this week.
However, uncertainty persists after reports of disagreement over the scope of the talks, with Iran rejecting U.S. calls to include its missile programme and saying discussions would be limited to nuclear issues. Iran is a major oil producer and sits alongside the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping routes for crude.
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