Hyperscaler Capex Tracker: Big Tech's 2026 AI Spending
Quarterly AI capex for Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon: latest reported spending, 2026 guidance, what changed and when each company reports next.
Alpha Agentic | Explainer | Updated Oct. 18, 2026, ahead of third-quarter reports
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ: META) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) are among the largest buyers of AI infrastructure. They buy the servers, chips, networking gear and datacenter shells that drive revenue for suppliers from Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to power producers. Each company defines capital spending a little differently, so this tracker shows each one on its own terms.
For each company, the tracker shows what it spent in its latest reported quarter, what it expects to spend in 2026, how that guidance has changed, and when it reports next. All four last reported results for the three months ended June 30, 2026. That is calendar Q2 for Alphabet, Meta and Amazon, and fiscal fourth quarter 2026 for Microsoft, whose fiscal year ends in June. We will update this page after each company's third-quarter report.
The scoreboard
| Company | Apr–Jun 2026 | Change vs. year earlier | 2026 guidance | Guidance move | Capex measure used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft MSFT | ~$41B | +69% from $24.2B | ~$175B prior ~$190B | Lowered* | Capex including finance leases (CFO's rounded call figures) |
| Alphabet GOOGL | $44.9B | +100% from $22.4B | $195B–$205B prior $180B–$190B | Raised | Purchases of property and equipment |
| Meta META | $31.08B | +83% from $17.01B | $130B–$145B prior $125B–$145B | Low end raised | Property and equipment purchases plus finance-lease principal |
| Amazon AMZN | $53.1B | +69% from $31.4B | ~$220B prior ~$200B | Raised | Cash capex, net of proceeds and incentives |
Microsoft's lower guidance reflects a lease accounting change, not lower planned spending; its figures are fiscal Q4 2026 and Q4 2025, which cover April–June. Year-over-year changes are our calculations from company-reported figures. Because the definitions differ, compare each company's trend over time rather than adding the companies together.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Latest quarter (fiscal Q4 2026, April–June 2026): Capital expenditures, including finance leases, were about $41 billion. That is the rounded figure CFO Amy Hood gave on the fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call. Microsoft's earnings release does not report a capex total that includes finance leases. On the same basis, capex was $24.2 billion a year earlier. The new figure came in just above the "over $40 billion" Hood had guided in April. Finance leases, mostly for large datacenter sites, made up $5.6 billion. Cash paid for property and equipment was $35.8 billion, more than double the $17.1 billion of a year earlier. Hood said roughly two-thirds of the quarter's capex went to short-lived assets, mainly CPUs and GPUs.
Guidance and what changed: In April, Microsoft guided to roughly $190 billion of capex for calendar 2026, including about $25 billion from higher component prices. In July it lowered that figure to approximately $175 billion. The cut reflects an accounting change, not lower planned spending. Starting in fiscal 2027, Microsoft is extending the estimated useful lives of its datacenters and office buildings from 15 to 25 years. As a result, more future datacenter leases will be classified as operating leases instead of finance leases. "Finance leases are included in capital expenditures while operating leases are not," Hood said. Outside that impact, she said, calendar 2026 expectations "remain unchanged." For fiscal Q1 2027 (July–September), Microsoft expects capex of more than $50 billion. It also expects fiscal 2027 capex to grow year over year.
Next report: Microsoft will publish fiscal Q1 2027 results after the market closes on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The webcast starts at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET).
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Alphabet also trades under the Class C ticker GOOG.
Latest quarter (Q2 2026): Alphabet's purchases of property and equipment, the line it uses as capex, were $44.9 billion. That was roughly double the $22.4 billion of a year earlier. Free cash flow turned negative, at minus $5.9 billion. On the earnings call, CFO Anat Ashkenazi said about 60% of the quarter's technical-infrastructure investment went to servers and 40% to datacenters and networking equipment.
Guidance and what changed: Alphabet raised its 2026 capex range to $195 billion to $205 billion, from $180 billion to $190 billion. Ashkenazi said the increase was "primarily due to an acceleration in the delivery of capacity to meet growing demand." She also repeated that Alphabet expects "our CapEx to increase significantly in 2027," with details to come later. To help fund the buildout, Alphabet raised $49.6 billion in net proceeds in June by selling Class A and Class C shares and mandatory convertible preferred stock.
Next report: Alphabet will hold its third-quarter call on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET). The earnings release will be posted before the call.
Meta (NASDAQ: META)
Latest quarter (Q2 2026): Meta's capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $31.08 billion. That is $30.12 billion of purchases of property and equipment plus $0.96 billion of finance-lease principal payments. On the same basis, the year-earlier quarter was $17.01 billion. Free cash flow fell to $784 million.
Guidance and what changed: Meta narrowed its 2026 capex outlook to $130 billion to $145 billion, from $125 billion to $145 billion, which raised the low end. Three months earlier, Meta had raised the range to $125 billion to $145 billion, from $115 billion to $135 billion. It cited higher component prices and, to a lesser extent, datacenter costs for future capacity. CFO Susan Li said on the call that Meta is "gearing our current infrastructure plans towards maximizing capacity in 2026 and '27." On next year, she said: "we aren't providing a specific outlook for 2027 CapEx at this time."
Next report: Meta will release third-quarter results after the market closes on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The call starts at 1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET).
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Latest quarter (Q2 2026): Amazon's cash capex was $53.1 billion, which CFO Brian Olsavsky said on the earnings call "primarily relates to AWS and generative AI." The figure matches Amazon's cash-flow statement: purchases of property and equipment of $54.21 billion, less $1.13 billion of proceeds from sales and incentives. On the same basis, Amazon spent $31.4 billion a year earlier. Trailing-12-month free cash flow was an outflow of $7.6 billion.
Guidance and what changed: CEO Andy Jassy raised the 2026 cash capex plan to approximately $220 billion, from about $200 billion. He said higher memory costs pushed the number up. "Even at that amount, we will still not have enough capacity to meet all the demand we have in 2026," Jassy said.
Next report: Amazon will hold its third-quarter call on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET).
How to read these numbers
- Definitions differ. Microsoft counts finance leases at their full value when a lease starts. Meta counts finance-lease principal as it is paid. Alphabet and Amazon use cash purchases, and Amazon nets out proceeds from sales and incentives. Comparing a company with its own past numbers is cleaner than comparing one company with another.
- Fiscal calendars differ. Microsoft's September quarter is fiscal Q1 2027. Its $175 billion figure covers calendar 2026, not its fiscal year.
- Component prices matter. Microsoft, Meta and Amazon all said higher memory or component prices raised their 2026 budgets. Part of the increase reflects higher prices, not just more capacity.
- The supply chain feels it first. For the supplier's side of this spending, see our coverage of TSMC's (NYSE: TSM) third quarter. More datacenter coverage is on the datacenters tag page.
What to watch this earnings season
- Meta, Oct. 21: Whether the $130 billion to $145 billion range narrows again and whether Meta gives an early view of 2027.
- Microsoft, Oct. 28: Whether fiscal Q1 capex comes in above $50 billion, and how much the shift from finance leases to operating leases changes reported capex compared with actual datacenter commitments.
- Alphabet, Oct. 28: Any change to the $195 billion to $205 billion range and the first details on its planned 2027 increase.
- Amazon, Oct. 29: Whether the roughly $220 billion plan holds as memory prices change, and how much of the spending goes to AWS.
- Across all four: Free cash flow. Alphabet's quarterly free cash flow turned negative, Meta's fell below $1 billion, and Amazon's trailing figure is an outflow. If spending keeps rising, how the companies fund it could matter as much as how much they spend.