AI capex surge pushes Big Tech free cash flow below zero
sankai
Big Tech’s artificial intelligence spending spree is accelerating, with combined capital expenditures at Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) reaching a record $201.9B in Q3 2026, according to The Kobeissi Letter.
That was an increase of $36.9B from the prior quarter, with combined capex more than doubling over the past 12 months and rising 356% since Q1 2024.
The four companies have now spent roughly $1.6T on capital expenditures over the past three years, Kobeissi said, underscoring the scale of the infrastructure buildout behind AI.
The surge in spending has come at a cost to free cash flow.
Combined free cash flow for the four companies fell by $33.1B in Q3 to negative $26.4B, the lowest level on record, according to the post. Free cash flow has declined by $88.2B over the past year, with Microsoft the only one of the four to report positive free cash flow in the latest quarter.
Kobeissi Letter
Recommended For You
Create Your Free Account to Keep Reading
Get the confidence to navigate an uncertain market with free breaking news and stock alerts.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.