Is AI spending paying off?
The largest technology companies are spending more on data centers than any companies ever have, betting that artificial intelligence will pay for it. Whether revenue keeps up with the spending matters for their shares, their suppliers and the market they dominate.
Updated Jun 30, 2026
Spending racing ahead of cloud revenue
Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle spent $566.4B on capital projects over the twelve months to June 2026, much of it on data centers for AI, +81% on a year earlier. That took 82% of the cash their businesses generated, up from 43% two years before. Revenue at the three largest clouds grew 35% to $355.4B, and Nvidia’s data-center sales grew 90% to $277.8B. Held equally, the five stocks are +1% over the past year, against +16% for the S&P 500.
Spending and revenue
First, capital spending against cloud revenue since 2017. Select a tile or any company below.
The spenders and their supplier
Trailing twelve months. Capex intensity is capital spending as a share of revenue; cash share is capital spending as a share of operating cash flow. Select a column to sort.
| Company | Capex | Capex growth | Capex intensity | Cash share | Cloud or data-center revenue | Its growth | Free cash flow | Stock, 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT Microsoft | $115.9B | +80% | 35% | 63% | $129.4B | +31% | $67.0B | +2% |
| AMZN Amazon | $173.0B | +61% | 22% | 107% | $148.4B | +28% | −$11.6B | +17% |
| GOOGL Alphabet | $132.4B | +98% | 30% | 71% | $77.6B | +58% | $53.3B | +44% |
| META Meta | $89.3B | +71% | 39% | 69% | – | – | $41.0B | 0% |
| ORCL Oracle | $75.7B | +176% | 105% | 161% | – | – | −$28.7B | −51% |
| NVDA Nvidia | $7.4B | +47% | 2% | 5% | $277.8B | +90% | $127.0B | +21% |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. Quarterly statements from FMP for Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle, summed over trailing twelve months at each calendar quarter. Cloud revenue uses the reported lines for Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft’s server products and cloud services, the three largest clouds.
Sources. Company financial statements from Financial Modeling Prep.
Capital spending includes all buildings and equipment, so Amazon’s figure also covers warehouses, and Meta, which sells no cloud services, uses AI mainly for its own advertising. Companies report cloud lines differently, so growth rates compare better than levels.
Spending shows up in results years before it pays off, if it does; heavy spending also lowers free cash flow and raises depreciation in later years.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›