AI Fears Slam Markets — Nasdaq Drops 2%

• Source: Motley Fool, Fortune
• Date: 2026-02-12

Nasdaq fell 2%, Dow dropped 669 points (1.3%), S&P 500 slid 1.6%. Cisco plunged 12% after reporting a 400% YoY spike in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) costs crushing margins despite beating revenue ($15.35B, +10% YoY). AppLovin crashed ~20% despite strong Q4 ($1.6B revenue, +66% YoY) as investors feared AI disruption of its ad-tech moat. This follows a $2 trillion wipeout in software stocks — the market narrative is shifting from "AI winners" to "AI disruption victims."