AI capex
Who pays for the AI build-out
The big AI spenders' capital expenditures against the cash their businesses bring in. When capex runs above operating cash flow, the spending is financed (debt, new shares, cash on hand) rather than paid for, the question the market sold tech on in October 2026.
Capex, past 4 quarters
$637.4B
all 7 spenders
Operating cash
$735.7B
same quarters
Free cash flow
$98.2B
operating cash minus capex
Capex / cash
87%
over 100% = financed
The spenders
| Company | Latest quarter | Capex | Free cash flow | Capex / cash | Capex vs yr ago | FCF < 0 | Capex outlook |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT Microsoft | Jun 30, 2026 | $35.8B | $19.6B | 65% | +110% | 0/4 | — |
| GOOGL Alphabet | Jun 30, 2026 | $44.9B | −$5.9B | 115% | +100% | 1/4 | — |
| AMZN Amazon | Jun 30, 2026 | $54.2B | −$8.8B | 119% | +68% | 2/4 | — |
| META Meta | Sep 30, 2026 | $33.9B | −$1.2B | 104% | +80% | 1/4 | 2026 $135–145B Oct 22 |
| ORCL Oracle | Aug 31, 2026 | $28.5B | −$5.4B | 123% | +235% | 4/4 | — |
| TSLA Tesla | Sep 30, 2026 | $4.7B | $1.5B | 76% | +110% | 1/4 | 2026 $20B lowered Oct 22 |
| CRWV CoreWeave | Jun 30, 2026 | $6.4B | −$5.7B | 946% | +162% | 4/4 | — |
Capex is purchases of property and equipment as each company tags it in its SEC filings (XBRL); some companies' own free cash flow also subtracts finance-lease payments, so theirs can be lower. Each quarter as first reported; fiscal years differ (Microsoft ends in June, Oracle in May), so "latest quarter" is not the same calendar quarter for all. Outlooks are read by AI from earnings releases and 10-Q / 10-K filings.