The Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,008.86 on Thursday, October 22, down 2.60% for its biggest one-day drop since June. The slide followed Meta’s third-quarter report and left the index about 5.8% below the 27,599.79 it reached on October 6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by contrast, edged up on the day.
The three major indexes split. The S&P 500 fell 1.21% to 7,663.43, and the Dow rose 0.02% to 52,873.28, according to a TradingKey market recap. The Nasdaq’s 2.60% decline was more than double the S&P’s.
Was 2.60% really the worst day since June?
The last bigger fall came on June 5, when the Nasdaq lost about 4.18% and closed at 25,709.43, Yahoo Finance’s daily history shows. From then through October 16, no session dropped by more than 2.5%. The nearest calls were June 23 at about 2.22%, July 23 at about 2.15% and October 16 at 2.14%.
The index had been sliding before Thursday. It closed at 27,599.79 on October 6 and at 26,140.03 on October 16, and Thursday’s 26,008.86 sits below both the October 16 close and the 26,692.87 posted on October 14.
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Perspective cuts both ways. Even after Thursday, the Nasdaq stands about 6.4% above its July 29 close of 24,442.94, the lowest in the May-to-October table. The index has traded between roughly 24,400 and 27,600 since mid-May.
Meta’s quarter: $64.6 billion in sales and a $9.89 billion legal charge
Meta fell 6.98% on Thursday after reporting third-quarter results on Wednesday. Revenue rose 26% to $64.6 billion, and net income reached $9.86 billion, up from $2.71 billion a year earlier.
The profit figure carries a large one-time item. Meta booked a $9.89 billion charge tied to an August agreement with 52 state attorneys general over teen mental health and social media litigation. Operating income was $12.99 billion, down 37%, and Meta says it would have been $22.88 billion without the charge.
Cash flow was the weaker line. Free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion, against positive $10.63 billion a year earlier, as capital spending hit $34.91 billion in the quarter. Meta narrowed its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $135 billion to $145 billion from $130 billion to $145 billion, which raises the bottom of the range.
The balance sheet is not strained. Meta held $82.45 billion in cash and marketable securities on September 30 and paid $1.36 billion in dividends during the quarter. It raised its 2026 total expense outlook to $175 billion to $179 billion to include the legal charge, and it expects Reality Labs losses of $18 billion to $19 billion this year.
The business metrics were solid. Ad impressions rose 10% and the average price per ad rose 14%, while headcount fell 15% to 66,775. TradingKey says the report reignited market worries about AI spending and the return on it, and Meta guided fourth-quarter revenue to $73 billion to $76 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and chief executive, said in the release that the company’s investments are paying off and that the core business is strong. The market weighed that against $135 billion or more of spending this year and a quarter of negative free cash flow.
Meta also declared a one-time stock dividend of one non-voting Class C share for each Class A and Class B share, tied to a certificate that takes effect January 19, 2027. The company expects the Class A price to reflect a two-for-one split once the dividend is paid. Record and payment dates have not been set.
Digital assets fell too. Bitcoin briefly fell below $81,000 intraday before recovering to about $81,300, down about 3.5% over 24 hours, TradingKey reports.
Who else moved, and what bonds and oil did
Lam Research fell 11.76% and Tesla lost 3.08%, TradingKey reports. Lam’s quarterly revenue was $8.22 billion, up 22% from the prior quarter. Procter & Gamble rose 5.58% and Lockheed Martin gained nearly 7%, both on earnings.
Other markets moved at the same time. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 4.96% on Thursday, down from 5.13% on Wednesday, Treasury’s daily par yield curve shows. Brent crude rose 2.64% to $112.91 a barrel, and gold fell 2.83%.
Labor data did not add to the pressure. Initial jobless claims were 194,000 for the week ended October 17, down 6,000 from a revised 200,000, and the four-week average was 197,750.
One-day reaction or the start of a deeper pullback?
The June 5 drop was followed by weeks of choppy trading, with closes ranging from 25,169.50 on June 10 to 26,683.94 on June 15. That pattern shows a large one-day fall has not always meant a straight line down. It has also not meant a quick recovery.
The data point to watch is Meta’s own spending guidance. A capital budget of $135 billion to $145 billion is the bet the market questioned on Thursday, and Thursday’s 6.98% fall shows how the market priced it.
For anyone holding a Nasdaq-linked fund, the practical question is concrete: how much of the portfolio sits in the index, and how far a 5.8% slide from the October 6 level moves the account balance? Thursday’s close of 26,008.86 is the number to measure it against.
Holding a Nasdaq fund after the 2.60% drop?
A 2.60% one-day fall in the Nasdaq shows how fast an investment balance can move. Rent, drugs, groceries and heating bills do not move with it, and several programs that reduce those bills must be applied for before they pay anything.
This story does not answer the benefits question, so the related job is the household budget. The Benefits Checklist scans 11 benefit programs, including Medicare Savings Programs, Extra Help and SNAP, with the 2026 income limits, and a printable tracker comes with the download.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
