Shares of technology companies fell as a surprisingly weak sales report from Amazon.com sowed worries that the pandemic-era tech boom was at an end.
Shares of Amazon fell by more than 7% after the online megastore posted a moderation in quarterly sales growth.
Amazon logged sales of $113 billion for the quarter ended in June, but that was somewhat short of the Wall Street peg of $115 billion, a development some analysts said suggested consumers may be slowing online shopping as the peak of the pandemic passes.
Pinterest shares plunged by roughly 20%, one of the largest retreats on record for the social networking company, after it reported slowing user growth, a hint that fewer people may be searching out online communities now that vaccines are widely available.
Overall, one brokerage said the tech sector had a stellar earnings season, however, with Apple, Microsoft and others posting growth ahead of targets.
"While it hasn't been plain sailing for tech stocks this past year...we see these results more than justifying their premium valuations," said Adam Vettese, an analyst at online brokerage eToro, in e-mailed commentary.
Growth in sales of chromebooks and tablets slowed somewhat in the second quarter, reflecting supply-chain challenges, and tough comparisons with the year earlier, according to research firm International Data Corp, as reported earlier.
Shares of Alibaba Holding and other Chinese Internet stocks resumed their decline as Beijing looked set to keep regulatory pressure on local tech companies.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-30-21 1658ET
