Amazon shares slipped 18.19% over nine consecutive trading days, marking the longest losing streak since 2006 and erasing approximately $400 billion in market capitalization. The drop has extended the year-to-date decline to 12.23%, driven by concerns over massive capital expenditure plans for AI infrastructure.

Futurum’s Chief Research Officer David Nicholson characterizes the sell-off as a psychological reaction rather than evidence of deteriorating business fundamentals. He notes that while investor anxiety is elevated, Amazon’s core e-commerce and cloud operations remain strong and its long-term growth trajectory unchanged.

Nicholson highlights that enterprise SaaS providers such as ServiceNow benefit from their status as trusted intermediaries for implementing new AI tools. Large corporate clients prefer established platforms to build, integrate and govern AI applications rather than developing proprietary solutions internally.

Investor skepticism centers on the timeline for realizing returns from hefty AI infrastructure spending, creating what Nicholson calls a “game of chicken.” He argues that while short-term volatility persists, the AI sector’s go-to-market strategies support a multiyear growth outlook for leading SaaS vendors.