人工智能基础设施热潮中一些最大牌公司的股价暴跌，令那些参与其大规模股票发行的投资者雪上加霜。
The plunge in shares for some of the biggest names in the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom has made a difficult situation worse for investors who bought into their mega-share sales.
英特尔公司、Alphabet Inc.和Meta Platforms Inc.周五在纽约早盘交易中下跌，此前一连串令人失望的财报出炉，使股价跌破了近几个月参与其股票发行的股东的买入价。跌势始于Alphabet周三发布的财报，其搜索及其他渠道的广告销售额未达预期，随后英特尔又报告了数据中心组件的供应链问题。两者都凸显了人们对人工智能领域的巨额支出能否持续的担忧。
Intel Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. fell in early New York trading on Friday, following a wave of earnings disappointment, leaving the stock prices below where shareholders who participated in their offerings in recent months bought in. The decline started with earnings on Wednesday from Alphabet that showed ad sales from search and other channels missed estimates, and continued with Intel reporting supply-chain problems with data center components. Both underscored concerns about whether enormous spending on AI can be sustained.
在一个本已难以消化大规模人工智能相关股票发行、并评估巨额投资能否转化为长期股价上涨的市场中，这些下跌将使公司更难继续筹集它们可能需要的资金。这也给Anthropic PBC的前景蒙上阴影——该公司希望其首次公开募股达到或超过SpaceX今年早些时候创纪录上市所筹集的金额。
In a market that was already struggling to digest large AI-related offerings and assess whether the heavy investment can translate into long-term share price gains, the declines will make it harder for companies to keep raising the sums they may need. They also cloud the prospect of Anthropic PBC achieving its goal in its initial public offering of meeting or exceeding the amount raised by SpaceX in its record-setting debut earlier this year.
Alphabet在6月宣布了一项大规模股权出售计划，包括强制性可转换优先股以及不时出售普通股的按市价发行计划。该公司将发行总额扩大至多850亿美元，并将A类和C类股票的发行价分别定为355.20美元和351.80美元。周五，这两类股票一度较上述价格下跌22%和21%。
Alphabet announced a jumbo equity sale plan, including mandatory convertible preferred stock and an at-the-market program of selling common shares from time to time, in June. The company upsized the total offering to as much as $85 billion and priced sales of Class A and Class C shares at $355.20 and $351.80 respectively. They sank as much as 22% and 21% below those prices on Friday.
英特尔在8月通过其自身扩大规模的交易筹集了230亿美元，发行价为每股95美元。这家芯片制造商的股票在交易价上方运行了大部分时间，直到本月早些时候人工智能交易开始走弱，周五其股价一度较发行价下跌33%。
Intel raised $23 billion in its own upsized deal in August, priced at $95 per share. The chipmaker’s stock mostly traded above the deal price until the AI trade began to falter earlier this month, and slumped as much as 33% under the offer price on Friday.
即便在周五下跌之前，参与Meta周一250亿美元股票发售的股东就发现，股价几乎立即跌破每股625美元的发行价，随后才回升。周五，股价一度较发行价低2.4%。
Even before Friday’s drop, shareholders who participated in Meta’s $25 billion stock sale on Monday saw the price fall below the $625 per share price almost immediately before recovering. On Friday, the stock fell as low as 2.4% below the offering.
自9月8日Meta宣布其个人AI智能体产品Muse以来，其股价已回吐全部涨幅。该股此前一度飙升26%，之后回落。
Meta shares have reversed their gains since before Sept. 8 when it announced Muse, its personal AI agent product. The stock soared as much as 26% before retreating.
外界对Meta此次发售的反应，很可能既关乎时机，也关乎对AI热潮的评判。此次增发公告发布之际，距离美联储最新一次利率会议仅几天，同时大型科技公司正处于动荡的财报季之中。
The reaction to Meta’s offering was likely as much about timing as it was a verdict on the AI boom. The announcement of the equity raise came just days before the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate meeting and in the middle of a turbulent earnings season for large tech firms.
“考虑到他们报告的一切以及他们预期的投资回报，我相信这次增发，也认为它合理，”InvestorPlace首席技术分析师卢克·兰戈表示。
“Given everything they are reporting and the return on investment they expect, I believe in the raise and believe it makes sense,” said Luke Lango, chief technology analyst at InvestorPlace.
“但市场一直起伏不定，AI股票也受到很多负面关注，所以保守定价是银行本该做的，”兰戈说。
“But things have been choppy and there’s been a lot of negative attention on AI stocks, so conservative pricing is what the banks should have done,” Lango said.
美国银行分析师贾斯汀·波斯特在计划公布后给客户的报告中写道，投资者很可能担心Meta更高且更持久的资本支出、公司最高600亿美元的按市价发行股票计划所带来的压力，以及AI投资增速超过变现速度的风险。波斯特写道，这可能在短期内对Meta的现金流和利润率构成压力。
Investors were likely concerned about Meta’s higher and more persistent capital expenditures, the overhang of the company’s at-the-market share sale program of up to $60 billion and the risk that AI investment outpaces monetization, Bank of America analyst Justin Post wrote in a note to clients after the plan was announced. This could pressure Meta’s cash flow and margins near-term, Post wrote.
如果当前的抛售潮未能令其却步，“七巨头”公司中可能还会有更多股票发售。微软首席财务官艾米·胡德在周三的财报电话会上没有排除公司出售股票的可能性。据彭博新闻社报道，该公司本周250亿美元的债券发行获得了超过四倍的认购需求。
There could be more equity sales to come from Magnificent 7 companies, if the current selloff doesn’t deter them. Microsoft Corp. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood did not rule out the company selling stock, speaking on its earnings call Wednesday. The company’s $25 billion bond sale this week drew more than four times demand, Bloomberg News reported.
彭博行业研究全球科技研究主管曼迪普·辛格表示：“这些公司希望提高资本支出，显然它们必须通过发行股票和增加债务来筹集资金，而它们两者都在做。”
“These companies want to raise their capex and obviously they have to find the money though equity issuance and more debt, and they are doing both,” said Mandeep Singh, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of technology research.
辛格说：“如果微软真的想在明年的资本支出上更进一步，那么它们很可能会进入股票市场融资。”
“If Microsoft really want to go further in terms of their capex spending for next year then they will probably tap into equity markets,” Singh said.