Where the big spenders' money goes
Capital expenditures of the biggest spending groups side by side, against the cash their businesses bring in. Capex above operating cash flow is financed (debt, new shares, cash on hand), which is normal for a regulated utility and new for big tech. Each topic has its own tracker with every company, its capex outlook and the suppliers that live on it.
By group
| Group | Tracker | Capex, 4 qtrs | vs prior 4 | Operating cash | Free cash flow | Capex / cash | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big tech & AI labs 6 of 7 | AI build-out | $616.9B | +82% | $728.8B | $111.9B | 85% | |
| Neoclouds 8 of 9 | AI build-out | $35.6B | +209% | $8.8B | −$26.8B | 405% | |
| Data-center landlords 3 of 3 | AI build-out | $11.0B | +27% | $8.6B | −$2.5B | 129% | |
| Memory makers 1 of 2 | Chip & memory factories | $30.7B | +94% | $89.7B | $59.0B | 34% | |
| Foundries, packaging & logic 2 of 5 | Chip & memory factories | $14.7B | -43% | $24.8B | $10.1B | 59% | |
| Chip designers 5 of 6 | Chip & memory factories | $12.7B | +65% | $199.7B | $187.0B | 6% | |
| Utilities 10 of 10 | Utilities | $139.2B | +26% | $81.4B | −$57.8B | 171% | |
| Oil & gas 5 of 5 | Oil & gas | $71.2B | +6% | $151.3B | $80.1B | 47% | |
| All groups | $932.0B | $1.29T | $361.0B | 72% |
Each group counts its companies with two years of quarters on record ("n of m"), so the change on the year compares the same companies; foreign filers (TSMC, SK Hynix, Nebius) report no quarterly figures to the SEC in a form Wallsti reads. Capex is each company's total as it reports it: big tech's also builds warehouses, factories and satellites. Fiscal quarters: Microsoft's year ends in June, Oracle's in May.