Markets Retreat as OpenAI Misses Targets, Oil Spikes

Major U.S. stock indexes ended lower on April 28, 2026, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite falling 0.9%, the S&P 500 down 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.1%. The retreat came after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had set new intraday and closing records the previous day.

The sell-off centered on artificial intelligence stocks after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI missed internal revenue and user targets. The company expected to end 2025 with 1 billion weekly active users—a milestone it has yet to reach four months into 2026. ChatGPT also reportedly missed its 2025 revenue target and monthly targets earlier this year.

Shares of Oracle, OpenAI's largest cloud provider, fell roughly 4%. SoftBank Group, which has committed more than $60 billion to OpenAI, sank 9.9% in Tokyo trading. Nvidia ended down 1.6% despite surging 4% to an all-time high the day before. CoreWeave also fell 4% or more. The company reportedly expects to spend about $600 billion on computing through 2030.

OpenAI's CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly questioned whether the company will be able to pay for the computing contracts it's signed with cloud providers like Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon. The news has shaken investor confidence in the AI picks-and-shovels rally, which depends on contracts like OpenAI's.

Oil futures advanced sharply after reports that President Donald Trump and his national-security team are skeptical of Iran's offer to stop attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 3.7% to nearly $100 a barrel. Brent crude settled up 2.8% to $111.26. The United Arab Emirates announced it would leave OPEC as of May 1.

Several major companies issued quarterly results. Coca-Cola shares closed nearly 4% higher after posting Q1 results and updating guidance. Spotify and UPS dropped 12% and 4% respectively after their numbers arrived. Visa, Starbucks, and Robinhood Markets were among those slated to report after the close.

On the earnings front, T-Mobile delivered durable postpaid account and ARPA growth, translating to a raised full-year outlook. CoStar Group reported Q1 revenue up 23% to $897 million, underlining demand for commercial property intelligence. Bloom Energy posted record Q1 results and lifted full-year guidance—evidence of strengthening project backlog and industrial adoption of fuel cells.

Biotech saw notable activity. Annovis published Phase 2/3 Alzheimer's results in Nature Portfolio, a credibility boost that may speed partnering interest. PTC Therapeutics reported positive Month-24 topline results from the PIVOT-HD extension of votoplam. CareDx agreed to acquire Naveris, expanding diagnostics capabilities in MRD surveillance and transplant monitoring.

Corporate governance and M&A moves included Gilead Sciences completing its acquisition of Arcellx, positioning the company ahead of a potential commercial launch of Anito-cel. IAC disclosed a name change to People Incorporated. Thomson Reuters announced voting results on its return-of-capital and share consolidation plan.

Not all news was positive. GridAI disclosed receipt of a NASDAQ notice about a late Form 10-K filing. Compliance notices like this can pressure short-term sentiment and highlight governance risks for growth-stage tech names. Ultra Clean announced the retirement of CFO Sheri Savage—a transition that can affect near-term guidance cadence.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose to near 4.36% from Monday's closing level below 4.35%. Gold futures were down 1.8% to $4,610 an ounce. Bitcoin slipped to $76,200 from overnight highs of $77,500. The U.S. dollar index was 0.2% higher at 98.66.

Five of the Magnificent Seven tech giants will report results this week, with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday. Investors are waiting to see if returns on big tech spending are materializing (a question that has been nagging analysts for months).

On the OTC side, OTC Markets Group data showed the OTCQX Composite down 0.67% to 2,249.24. Various OTCQX sub-indices also declined, with OTCQX Canada falling 2.88% and OTCQX International down 0.67%. The S&P 500 closed at 7,138.80, down 0.49%.

For investors watching the AI trade, the OpenAI news raises questions about whether the sector's valuations are sustainable. As Joseph Alagna of Buttonwood Funds noted in written commentary, investors shouldn't mistake a revenue miss for a verdict on AI. The long-term thesis remains intact, but the earliest innings of a technological transformation that will reshape every sector of the global economy are still unfolding.

Whether users actually pay for AI services at scale remains the real question. The market's reaction to OpenAI's missed targets suggests investors are starting to demand proof that the massive capital expenditures will translate into commensurate returns. Time will tell if this is a temporary wobble or the beginning of a broader reassessment.

Artūras Malašauskas is an AI Systems Integrator with 20+ years of production-grade web engineering experience. He has designed, shipped, and scaled enterprise Python/PHP systems for logistics, SaaS, and public-sector clients. For the past year, he has focused exclusively on AI integrations: deploying open-source LLMs, building generative media pipelines (image, audio, video), and engineering multi-agent workflows for real production environments. His standard: reproducibility, security, cost-efficient inference—no vaporware. He documents and evaluates emerging AI tooling, separating verified capabilities from marketing noise. Technical editor at: muza-ai.eu, ai-verslas.lt, ai-naujinos.lt Connect on LinkedIn