{"id":58421,"date":"2026-02-12T17:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-plummets-as-tech-sector-woes-and-ai-driven-sell-off-spook-investors\/58421\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:09:15","slug":"dowjonestodaydow-plummets-as-tech-sector-woes-and-ai-driven-sell-off-spook-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/dowjonestodaydow-plummets-as-tech-sector-woes-and-ai-driven-sell-off-spook-investors\/58421\/","title":{"rendered":"[DowJonesToday]Dow Plummets as Tech Sector Woes and AI-Driven Sell-Off Spook Investors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average<\/strong> experienced a significant downturn on Thursday, February 12, 2026, closing down <strong>669.42<\/strong> points, a <strong>1.34%<\/strong> decline. The main driver of this sharp drop was a widespread sell-off in the technology sector, fueled by investor anxiety surrounding the long-term profitability of artificial intelligence investments. Despite some companies beating earnings expectations, broader concerns about future revenue and profit margins in the AI space led to a market-wide re-evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>A prime example of this trend was <strong>Cisco Systems (<a href=\"\/stock\/CSCO\">CSCO<\/a>)<\/strong>, which plummeted <strong>11.95%<\/strong> despite reporting quarterly profits and revenues that surpassed analysts&#39; forecasts. The company&#39;s guidance on potentially tighter profit margins in the coming quarter, partly due to the increased costs of components for AI technologies, appeared to spook investors. This news had a ripple effect across the tech industry, contributing to the broader market decline. Other major tech-related losers on the Dow included <strong>IBM (<a href=\"\/stock\/IBM\">IBM<\/a>)<\/strong>, which fell <strong>5.05%<\/strong>, and <strong>Apple (<a href=\"\/stock\/AAPL\">AAPL<\/a>)<\/strong>, down <strong>4.94%<\/strong>. The market sentiment was clearly focused on separating the perceived long-term winners from losers in the AI boom, leading to significant volatility.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to the struggling tech sector, several consumer staples and healthcare companies posted gains. <strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> emerged as the top performer on the Dow, rising <strong>3.33%<\/strong>. Other notable gainers included <strong>McDonald&#39;s (<a href=\"\/stock\/MCD\">MCD<\/a>)<\/strong>, which climbed <strong>2.27%<\/strong> after reporting strong quarterly profits, and healthcare giant <strong>Johnson &amp; Johnson (<a href=\"\/stock\/JNJ\">JNJ<\/a>)<\/strong>, which saw a <strong>1.46%<\/strong> increase. These gains suggest a flight to more defensive stocks as investors sought refuge from the uncertainty roiling the technology sector. The market&#39;s negative performance was also influenced by a report indicating a larger-than-expected slump in the sales of previously owned homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a significant downturn on Thursday, February 12, 2026, closing down 669.42 points, a 1.34% 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