European AI Stocks Fall, Joining Global Selloff

By Joe Stonor

European artificial-intelligence shares were swept up in a global rout of AI-related stocks, as investors fretted over the cost of companies' investments into the technology and fresh competition from China.

Increased expectations for Federal Reserve hikes compounded existing investor nerves around AI companies' leverage prompted the Nasdaq to suffer its worst trading day since July on Wednesday. Asian AI stocks followed overnight, before European names sold sharply at the open.

Despite paring some losses as the morning progressed, European AI stocks remained sharply lower. ASML--the continent's most valuable company--fell as much as 6.9%, before paring losses to trade 4.8% lower. Dutch peers ASM International and BE Semiconductor declined 8.3% and 5.7%, respectively.

Germany group Siemens Energy, whose gas turbines are used to power data centers in Europe and the U.S., slid 5.75%. The stock is on track for its lowest close since January, with shares falling more than 10% so far this month. Italian electrification group Prysmian was 5% lower.

The selloff hit European chip makers, too. In Frankfurt, Infineon Technologies dropped 7.5%, while cross-listed STMicroelectronics fell 6.45%.

"We are seeing some blocks being pulled out of the Jenga Tower that is the AI capex boom," said Panmure Liberum strategist Joachim Klement.

"Higher debt costs makes it extremely difficult...to finance further data centers now that their free cash flows have evaporated."

U.S. consumer-price inflation data Wednesday came in hotter than analysts expected, prompting a sharp uptick in expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike later this month. The prospect of further Fed tightening added to existing concerns around the cost and scale of AI companies' borrowing.

"AI is special, but any capex relies on the cost of capital," said Mikhail Zverev, fund manager at Amati Global Investors.

"Investors had worries about whether [AI-linked] assets would generate returns above the cost of capital when rates were lower, so they should worry, and they are worrying, about this more now that the rates are higher. This force of gravity applies to AI as well."

Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This was corrected at 6:33 a.m. ET to clarify the STMicroelectronics shares fell 6.45%. The original version didn't specify whether shares were falling or rising.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 15, 2026 06:22 ET (10:22 GMT)