The U.S. stock-market bubble that peaked with the Nasdaq Composite in March 2000 was the dot-com bubble.
The bubble centered on internet and technology companies. Investors often valued firms on expected future growth rather than profits, and many newly listed businesses had limited revenue or no sustainable earnings. Venture funding and initial public offerings expanded rapidly.
The Nasdaq Composite reached an intraday peak of 5,132.52 on March 10, 2000. It then fell sharply as expectations changed, interest rates rose, and investors reassessed technology-company valuations. The downturn spread through the technology sector and weakened investment in many internet businesses.
The term dot-com refers to the “.com” domain suffix associated with many internet companies, not to every technology company. Some durable businesses survived or later prospered, but many highly speculative firms failed.