Big Tech capex after Q3: $201.9B spent and how it was funded

Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) together spent $201.9 billion on property and equipment in July–September 2026, 2.08 times the $97.3 billion they spent a year earlier. Most of it went to servers, chips and data centers. The four reported over nine days: Meta on Oct 21, Microsoft and Alphabet on Oct 28, and Amazon on Oct 29.

For the first time in the eight quarters below, that spending was larger than the cash the four businesses generated. Their combined operating cash flow was $175.5 billion, so combined free cash flow was −$26.4 billion. Microsoft was the only one still positive. All figures here use one definition for all four companies, taken from StockFit's quarterly cash-flow data (as of Oct 30, 2026); the sums and ratios are MoverTape calculations.

Key facts, July–September 2026:

• Capex: $201.9 billion combined, 2.08 times a year earlier. Over the last four quarters it was $615.4 billion, against $329.8 billion in the four before.
• Capex as a share of operating cash flow: 68% at Microsoft, 104% at Meta, 121% at Alphabet and 182% at Amazon.
• Free cash flow: negative at Alphabet for a second quarter, at Meta for the first time in this series, and at Amazon in three of the last four quarters (−$34.8 billion this quarter). Microsoft's was $18.6 billion.
• Funding: Alphabet raised $28.7 billion from notes and $12.4 billion from share sales, Amazon $48.1 billion of long-term debt. Since the quarter ended, Microsoft has priced $25.0 billion of notes, and Meta has priced about $37.5 billion of preferred and common stock offerings, with a $60 billion share-sale program planned for 2027.
• Buybacks: $4.4 billion across the four, all at Microsoft, against $20.5 billion a year earlier.

Each company's own report is covered in our recaps of Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon. This piece lays the four side by side on the same measures.

How much did Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta spend on capex?

In the third quarter of 2026, the four spent $201.9 billion, and every one of them spent at least 1.8 times as much as a year earlier: Microsoft 2.03 times, Alphabet 2.14, Amazon 2.20 and Meta 1.80.

Capex, short for capital expenditures, is money spent on long-lived assets. Here it means one line of the cash-flow statement: purchases of property and equipment, the cash a company paid for servers, buildings and network gear in the quarter. It leaves out equipment acquired through finance leases, which Microsoft and Meta add to their own capex figures (see why the companies' figures differ). Free cash flow here is operating cash flow minus those purchases.

Since the end of 2024, combined quarterly capex has risen 2.8 times, from $72.3 billion to $201.9 billion. Quarterly capex, in billions of US dollars:

Source: StockFit quarterly cash-flow statements from the companies' 10-Q and 10-K filings, as of Oct 30, 2026: purchases of property and equipment. Quarters are calendar quarters. Microsoft's fiscal year ends on June 30, so its July–September 2026 quarter is its fiscal Q1 2027; its April–June quarters are the full fiscal year minus the first nine months. Combined totals are MoverTape calculations from unrounded figures.

Amazon added the most in dollars in the latest quarter: its capex rose $23.1 billion from the second quarter, more than the other three's increases combined ($13.8 billion). Our preview of the week showed the same measure before Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon reported.

How does capex compare with the cash the businesses generate?

Capex grew much faster than operating cash flow, the cash the businesses bring in from their day-to-day operations. Over the last four quarters, the four companies' combined operating cash flow rose 26.1% to $676.8 billion, while capex rose 87% to $615.4 billion. Combined free cash flow fell from $207.0 billion to $61.5 billion, down 70.3%.

Free cash flow by quarter, operating cash flow minus purchases of property and equipment, in billions of US dollars:

Source: StockFit quarterly cash-flow statements, as of Oct 30, 2026. Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus purchases of property and equipment, the same definition for all four; combined totals are MoverTape calculations from unrounded figures.

The share of revenue and of operating cash flow that went into capex shows the change more directly. A share above 100% means the company spent more on property and equipment than its operations brought in:

Each figure is purchases of property and equipment as a percentage of revenue or of operating cash flow ("cash flow"); the Q3 2025 columns repeat the measure a year earlier. Source: MoverTape calculations from StockFit quarterly revenue, operating cash flow and purchases of property and equipment, as of Oct 30, 2026.

Over the last four quarters, the picture per company:

Source: StockFit quarterly data, October 2025 to September 2026 (Microsoft: its fiscal Q2 2026 to Q1 2027); sums are MoverTape calculations.

Three things stand out in the tables:

• Amazon's spending was the largest in dollars and against cash flow, but the smallest against revenue, which is far larger than the others' because it includes Amazon's retail sales: $201.9 billion in the quarter. Its operating cash flow was also lower in the September quarter than in the June quarter ($42.4 billion against $45.4 billion).
• Meta spent the largest share of its revenue, 52.5%, and its free cash flow went from $11.2 billion a year earlier to −$1.2 billion on this definition.
• Microsoft's operating cash flow grew the most, by 28.7% from a year earlier to $58.0 billion, the highest of the four in the quarter. That kept its capex below 70% of operating cash flow even though its spending doubled.

Alphabet's CFO said free cash flow, driven negative by capex, was also affected by inventory built up for sales of its own AI chip systems and by a $5.2 billion payment, including interest, of a 2018 European Commission fine. Our Alphabet recap explains both.

Why do the companies' own capex figures differ?

Each company reports capex its own way, so the numbers in their releases aren't directly comparable with each other or with the tables above. Two count equipment acquired under finance leases, and one subtracts money it gets back:

"Our series" is purchases of property and equipment from StockFit, the figure used in the tables above. Sources: Microsoft's Q1 FY2027 earnings call, Oct 28; Alphabet's and Amazon's Q3 releases and Amazon's 10-Q; Meta's Q3 release, Oct 21. Purchases of property and equipment from StockFit.

None of these figures is wrong; they measure different things. A finance lease is a long-term lease, often for a data center, that the company records much like a purchase. Microsoft counts the full value of a new finance lease in capex when the lease starts, and its capex also differs from cash purchases because some equipment is received before it is paid for (our Microsoft recap). Meta counts the principal it pays on its finance leases each quarter. Amazon's narrower measure is the one its 2026 plan uses, so its guidance is compared with "cash capex", not with gross purchases.

That is why Meta's free cash flow is −$2.12 billion in its release and −$1.16 billion in our table, and why Amazon's twelve-month figure is −$42.4 billion in its release and −$46.9 billion above. When you see a capex number quoted, check whose definition it uses. Our guide to earnings reports explains how company-defined measures such as free cash flow differ from figures under accounting rules.

What does each company expect to spend in 2026 and 2027?

All four gave guidance for calendar 2026, and each on its own definition, so the figures can't simply be added up. Three of them say spending will rise again in 2027; none has given a 2027 figure yet.

Sources: Microsoft's Q1 FY2027 call (Oct 28); Alphabet's Q3 call (Oct 28); Amazon's Q3 release and 10-Q (Oct 29); Meta's Q3 release (Oct 21). Implied fourth-quarter ranges are MoverTape calculations: the full-year range minus spending in the first nine months on the same definition ($132.0B at Alphabet; $85.8B at Meta, including $2.8B of finance-lease principal). Amazon's nine-month cash capex is not calculated here.

In the companies' words:

• Microsoft: "In Q2, we expect CapEx spend will be over $50 billion. Therefore, for the calendar year, spend should be approximately $170 billion due to the 3P capacity delays," said CFO Amy Hood, referring to delayed third-party data center capacity. In July she had put calendar 2026 at about $175 billion (our Microsoft recap).
• Alphabet: "Our full year 2026 CapEx guidance range of $195 billion to $205 billion remain unchanged. We continue to expect our CapEx to increase significantly in 2027," said CFO Anat Ashkenazi (transcript).
• Amazon: "We continue to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures to be approximately $220 billion" (release). The 10-Q says cash capex is expected "to meaningfully increase in 2027".
• Meta: "We anticipate 2026 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $135-145 billion." For next year, Meta said it is "still developing" its budget and capacity plans but expects "to continue investing aggressively".

Our guide explains how to read and compare guidance.

How did the four pay for the spending?

With capex running ahead of operating cash flow, the gap was filled by borrowing, selling shares and cutting back buybacks. Funding in July–September 2026:

Sources: StockFit quarterly cash-flow statements and balance sheets, as of Oct 30, 2026; Alphabet's note proceeds and dividend payments (common and preferred) from its Q3 release. Long-term debt excludes the current portion. Amazon pays no dividend and reported no buybacks. Buybacks across the four were $4.4 billion, against $20.5 billion a year earlier (MoverTape calculation).

Company by company:

• Alphabet also sold stock under its at-the-market program, which lets a company sell shares gradually into the market: $12.4 billion in the quarter, with $27.6 billion of the program left. It has bought back no shares in 2026 (release).
• Amazon raised $115.1 billion of long-term debt in the first nine months of 2026, and its cash and cash equivalents fell to $55.8 billion from $86.8 billion at the end of 2025 (StockFit; our Amazon recap has the detail).
• Microsoft raised no debt in the quarter. On Oct 29, the day after its report, it priced $25.0 billion of notes in ten series, which settle on Nov 4 (term sheet). Hood said on the call: "we expect to continue to remain free cash flow positive in FY27".
• Meta issued no debt in the quarter. Its net proceeds from long-term debt were $24.91 billion in the first nine months of 2026, all of it before July (Q3 release and StockFit), and it has bought back no stock this year, against $26.2 billion in the first nine months of 2025.

Meta's $95 billion equity plan

Five days after its report, on Oct 26, Meta set out a financing plan of about $95 billion in stock, in a statement filed with the SEC. It has three parts:

1. Preferred stock, about $12.5 billion. 250 million depositary shares at $50 each, representing 6.50% mandatory convertible preferred stock that converts into common shares around Aug 15, 2029. The offering closed on Oct 29 (8-K).
2. Common stock, $25.0 billion, upsized from $22.5 billion. 40 million Class A shares at $625.00, sold through forward sale agreements. Meta receives the money, about $24.9 billion, only when it settles the agreements, on dates of its choosing up to Nov 19, 2027 (pricing release). Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom indicated interest in buying up to $5.0 billion of these shares, Meta said.
3. An at-the-market program of about $60 billion, selling Meta's new non-voting Class C shares, which Meta expects to start in the first quarter of 2027, once Class C trading begins. Meta says it has not yet signed an agreement for it and that the timing, size and terms are not set.

Meta said it intends to fund its investments "through a balanced mix of operating cash flow, investment-grade debt, strategic partnerships, and equity capital". On Oct 30, S&P Global Ratings kept Meta's AA- rating but changed its outlook to negative from stable, citing "uncertainty" about elevated capex and negative free cash flow, according to CNBC. A Meta spokesperson told CNBC: "We respectfully disagree with S&P's assertion about Meta's AI monetization capabilities."

How did each stock react to its report?

The first trading session after each report brought moves from a 12.6% fall to almost no change, and the size of the move did not follow the size of the cash outflow:

All four reported after the close. Source: StockFit daily closes; changes are MoverTape calculations. Alphabet: Class A shares. SPY is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500. Amazon's "close before" already reflects a 4.25% fall during the regular session on Oct 29, before its release; from Wednesday's close of $254.60 to Friday's, it fell 5.6%.

What the reporting attributed the moves to:

• Meta fell after its "free cash flow turned negative and the company raised the floor of its expected capex spend", CNBC reported. By Thursday, Oct 29, the shares had fallen further, to $624.52, 10.5% below their close before the report (StockFit; MoverTape calculation).
• Alphabet had its worst day on record. CNBC pointed to negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion "compared to the $2.7 billion analysts expected" (CNBC).
• Microsoft "traded largely flat", according to the same CNBC report, which noted that its free cash flow "remained positive". A separate CNBC report had put the shares up 4% in extended trading the evening before (our Microsoft recap).
• Amazon was down nearly 7% before Friday's open, which CNBC attributed to concern "about its outsized investments into AI". It recovered most of that during the session.

Microsoft, the only one of the four with positive free cash flow, barely moved. Amazon, with the largest outflow, fell less than SPY on its first session. Our week in review for Oct 26–30 shows how the rest of the market moved on those days, including Thursday, when the equal-weight S&P 500 fund rose while the market-value-weighted one fell.

What to watch next

• Nov 4: Microsoft's $25.0 billion of notes settle.
• Late November: the 30-day options for the underwriters of Meta's offerings expire, up to 37.5 million more depositary shares and $3.75 billion more common stock.
• Jan 19, 2027: the effective date of Meta's amended certificate of incorporation, which creates the Class C shares; the planned $60 billion program is set to follow their trading debut.
• Late January to early February 2027: fourth-quarter reports, which will show whether 2026 spending landed inside each range. Alphabet has said it will give "further details" on 2027 capex on its fourth-quarter call.

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