Hyperscaler Capex 2026: $720B–$745B Guidance by Company

Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, the four "hyperscalers" (the giant cloud and platform companies), guide to $720 billion to $745 billion of 2026 capex, a midpoint of about $732.5 billion. Capex, short for capital expenditure, is the money a company spends on long-lived assets like data centers, servers and chips. Amazon plans the most, about $220 billion.

2026 capex guidance by company

All figures are USD, full calendar year 2026. Download them, with a source for every row, as CSV or JSON from the free 2026 AI capex dataset.

Amazon's plan is the biggest slice of the $732.5 billion

30%Amazon27%Alphabet24%Microsoft19%Meta

• Amazon$220.0B30%
• Alphabet$200.0B27%
• Microsoft$175.0B24%
• Meta$137.5B19%
• Combined 2026 guidance, midpoints$732.5B100%

Alphabet spent $91.4 billion on capex in 2025. This year it expects to spend $195 billion to $205 billion, and it has raised that plan twice.

Watch it play outAlphabet has raised its capex plan twice this year

In 2025 Alphabet spent $91.4 billion on capex: data centers, servers and chips.

In February it guided to $175 billion to $185 billion for this year.

In April it raised the plan to $180 billion to $190 billion.

On July 22 it raised it again, to $195 billion to $205 billion. The faint core is last year.

Replay

Not every dollar is AI, but the build is enormous and still growing. The more telling number is what's left: to hit their plans, all four must spend about 12% to 51% more per quarter in the second half than they did in Q2. We show the math below.

Watch it play outMeta must spend about 51% more a quarter to hit the top of its plan

Meta plans $130 billion to $145 billion of capex this year. Take the top end.

In the first half it spent $50.92 billion, about 35% of the pool.

Set that aside. $94.08 billion is left for two quarters.

Split it in two: $47.04 billion a quarter. Q2 was $31.08 billion.

That is about 51% more per quarter. Amazon needs the least, about 12%. All four must step up.

Replay

The short version

• Direction: Alphabet and Amazon raised their plans in July, Meta narrowed its range upward, and Microsoft's lower number reflects a lease accounting change, not less building.
• Spend so far: the four spent 35% to 45% of their plans in the first half, so the second half has to be heavier.
• Not a pure AI number: Amazon's plan also covers fulfillment, robotics and satellites.

Guidance is as of the companies' July 22–30 Q2 reports; we update after the Q3 reports in late October. For what each company has said about next year, and the analyst estimates, see the hyperscaler capex 2027 forecast. For how the companies are paying for it, with debt, new shares and paused buybacks, see the hyperscaler debt tracker. For how the spending compares with the dot-com build, see AI spending vs the dot-com bubble.

Check the claimThree claims to test as you read

ClaimThe $732.5 billion is what Big Tech spends on AI.Tap to checkMythIt's total capex guidance, which also covers other servers, fulfillment, robotics and satellites. None of the four reports an audited AI capex line.Flip backClaimMicrosoft cut its 2026 plan, so it's building less.Tap to checkMythThe drop from about $190 billion to about $175 billion came from moving some leases out of capex. The CFO said the investment plan was unchanged.Flip backClaimMore hyperscaler capex means supplier stocks keep rising.Tap to checkMythNot automatically. Supplier revenue depends on budgets that can be cut, and prices may already assume the spending continues.Flip back

How much have they spent so far in 2026?

Reported capex on each company's own measure. Microsoft's January–March and April–June quarters are its fiscal Q3 and Q4 2026.

The measures differ, so don't add these rows into one "AI spend" figure. First-half spending was about 42% of Microsoft's plan, 45% of Amazon's, 39%–41% of Alphabet's and 35%–39% of Meta's. Those percentages hide the more useful figure: how fast each company has to spend from here.

All four spent more in Q2 than in Q1

Q1 2026 (Jan–Mar)Q2 2026 (Apr–Jun)

1020304050$60B0

$31.9B$41.0B

MicrosoftQ1 2026 (Jan–Mar)$31.9BQ2 2026 (Apr–Jun)$41.0B

$35.7B$44.9B

AlphabetQ1 2026 (Jan–Mar)$35.7BQ2 2026 (Apr–Jun)$44.9B

$44.2B$54.2B

AmazonQ1 2026 (Jan–Mar)$44.2BQ2 2026 (Apr–Jun)$54.2B

$19.8B$31.1B

MetaQ1 2026 (Jan–Mar)$19.8BQ2 2026 (Apr–Jun)$31.1B

MicrosoftAlphabetAmazonMeta

Worked example: what the second half requires

Take each company's full-year guidance, subtract what it spent in the first half, and split the rest across the two remaining quarters. Then compare that pace with the company's Q2 spending. All figures come from the two tables above.

Make a guess

To hit the top of its $130 billion to $145 billion range, how much more per quarter must Meta spend in the second half than it did in Q2?

Tap your guess

Under 15% moreYour guess15% to 30% moreYour guess30% to 45% moreYour guessMore than 45% moreYour guess

01234567890123456789%Top of Meta's 2026 range

Spot on.Close, a little low.Close, a little high.Way off, too low.Way off, too high. It was 51%.

About 51% more. Meta spent $50.92 billion in the first half, leaving $94.08 billion for the top end: $47.04 billion a quarter against Q2's $31.08 billion.

Top of Meta's 2026 range51%

Amazon12%

Microsoft25%

Alphabet, top of range39%

Meta's top end needs the biggest step-up from Q2

Low end of guidanceHigh end of guidance

102030405060%0

12%12%

AmazonLow end of guidance12%High end of guidance12%

25%25%

MicrosoftLow end of guidance25%High end of guidance25%

27%39%

AlphabetLow end of guidance27%High end of guidance39%

27%51%

MetaLow end of guidance27%High end of guidance51%

AmazonMicrosoftAlphabetMeta

Three things jump out:

• Microsoft's math checks out against its own words. It needs about $51 billion a quarter, and management expects fiscal Q1 2027 capex (July to September) above $50 billion.
• Meta has the widest range. Hitting the low end needs about 27% more per quarter than Q2; the top end needs about 51% more.
• Amazon needs the smallest step-up. It spent $98.4 billion in the first half, 45% of its plan, so about $60.8 billion a quarter gets it there, 12% above Q2. Its spending is already running near the full-year pace.

Two simplifications apply. Spending won't split evenly between Q3 and Q4, Amazon's cash purchases are reported before proceeds and incentives, and Alphabet's spend measure (purchases of property and equipment) may not match its guidance line exactly. Treat the step-up as a pace check, not a forecast.

Company by company

Microsoft: about $175 billion

Microsoft now expects roughly $175 billion of calendar 2026 capex, down from about $190 billion. The cut comes from accounting, not from building less: some leases moved from finance leases, which count as capex, to operating leases, which work more like rent and don't.

Find the reason

Microsoft's guidance fell by about $15 billion. One phrase in the CFO's explanation says why. Tap it.

Amy Hood, Microsoft CFO, July 29, 2026

Outside of this useful life impact, our calendar year 2026 CapEx investment expectations remain unchanged. However, the shift from finance to operating leases adjusts our expectation to approximately $175 billion.

Tap the phrase you think is the tell.

Spotted it.Not that phrase. Reported capex fell because some leases moved from finance leases, which count as capex, to operating leases, which don't. The data centers are the same.

• “Outside of this useful life impact” The useful-life change affects depreciation, not the capex number.
• “our calendar year 2026 CapEx investment expectations remain unchanged” This is the point: the building plan didn't change.
• “the shift from finance to operating leases” Finance leases count as capex; operating leases work like rent and don't. Moving leases between the two lowers reported capex without less building.
• “adjusts our expectation to approximately $175 billion” This is the new number, not the reason for it.

Explain every phraseHide the other explanations

CFO Amy Hood said on July 29: "Outside of this useful life impact, our calendar year 2026 CapEx investment expectations remain unchanged. However, the shift from finance to operating leases adjusts our expectation to approximately $175 billion." From fiscal 2027, Microsoft also stretches the useful lives (the years a cost is spread over in earnings) of data centers and offices from 15 to 25 years.

Fiscal Q4 spending was $41 billion, including $5.6 billion of finance leases, with roughly two-thirds on short-lived assets, mostly CPUs and GPUs. Management expects fiscal Q1 2027 capex above $50 billion and fiscal 2027 capex to grow. Source: the fiscal Q4 2026 earnings call.

Microsoft 2026 capex guidance vs actual spend → · MSFT stock research

Alphabet: $195 billion to $205 billion

The plan keeps climbing:

• February: $175 billion to $185 billion
• April: $180 billion to $190 billion
• July 22: $195 billion to $205 billion, mainly to deliver capacity faster to meet demand

Second-quarter capex was $44.9 billion, about 60% servers and 40% data centers and networking. Management expects 2027 capex to rise significantly and warned that depreciation (the yearly cost of wearing out assets, charged against earnings) and running costs, including energy, will pressure profits as new capacity switches on.

Most of Alphabet's Q2 capex went into servers

• 60%Servers
• 40%Data centers and networking

Sources: Q2 2026 call and, for the original range, the Q4 2025 call.

Alphabet 2026 capex guidance vs actual spend → · GOOGL stock research

Amazon: about $220 billion

Amazon now expects about $220 billion of cash capex in 2026, up from about $200 billion, mainly because memory got more expensive. On July 30, Andy Jassy said even that won't give Amazon enough capacity to meet 2026 demand, and he expects the same in 2027. Management names AI, chips, robotics and low-earth-orbit satellites among the reasons.

This is the least AI-specific number in the table. Amazon also spends heavily on fulfillment centers, transportation and devices, so don't call it all AWS or AI capex.

Amazon's bigger plan already shows up in its cash

$220B2026 cash capex plan, approximateUp from about $200B, mainly memory costs

+$66.1BYear-over-year jump in equipment purchasesNet of incentives

−$7.6BTrailing free cash flow

The bill shows up in cash. In Amazon's Q2 2026 update, trailing free cash flow (operating cash minus capex) swung to a $7.6 billion outflow, driven mainly by a $66.1 billion year-over-year jump in property-and-equipment purchases, net of incentives. Sources: CNBC on the Q2 call and, for the original plan, Q4 2025 results.

Amazon 2026 capex guidance vs actual spend → · AMZN stock research

Meta: $130 billion to $145 billion

On July 29, Meta narrowed its 2026 range to $130 billion to $145 billion, lifting the low end from $125 billion. The money buys the compute behind ads, recommendations, generative AI and research. Meta doesn't rent out computing power like a cloud seller; it earns the spending back indirectly, through engagement and ads. Source: Meta's second-quarter 2026 results.

Meta 2026 capex guidance vs actual spend → · META stock research

Member research: Microsoft's switch to 25-year useful lives for data centers lowers the yearly depreciation charge without changing the cash it spends. Issue 03 measures how far depreciation trails spending at all four hyperscalers, and where the margin squeeze lands next.

Why the four numbers don't line up

• Leases vs purchases: Meta counts finance-lease principal; Amazon reports cash purchases.
• Fiscal vs calendar year: Microsoft's year ends in June; its guidance is for calendar 2026.
• AI vs everything else: none of the four reports an audited "AI capex" line.
• Short-lived vs long-lived: servers are depreciated over a few years, buildings over decades.

Treat the combined figure as the size of the infrastructure budget, not an exact total. The AI capex accounting comparison lines the four definitions up side by side.

Where the money goes

Chip designers aren't the only ones paid.

See our guides to AI data-center power demand, high-bandwidth memory and custom AI chips versus GPUs. If a company discloses an accelerator count, the free HBM demand calculator turns it into installed memory and bandwidth, not a supplier revenue forecast.

Try it yourself

A 10-minute check on one company you own or follow:

1. Download the free 2026 AI capex dataset and note your company's guidance range and the source for that row.
2. Open its capex page: Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon or Meta. Compare its first-half spend and implied second half with the worked example above.
3. Open the latest earnings source from the spend table and find revenue, operating cash flow and capex for the same quarter, plus capex for the prior quarter.
4. Enter those four numbers into the free capex-to-free-cash-flow coverage calculator. It returns free cash flow, capex as a share of revenue and capex growth.
5. Run it again with the "needed per quarter" figure from the worked example as current capex, holding operating cash flow flat. That's a simplification, but it shows the direction.

You should now be able to answer: can this company fund its second-half build from operating cash, or would free cash flow turn negative, as Amazon's trailing figure already has?

What we'd watch

Our read: the spending is real and still rising, but the payback isn't proven. Cash leaves before the full cost hits earnings, because equipment only starts depreciating once it's running. The second-half step-ups above are the first test: if they arrive while cloud and ad growth hold up, the build is on track.

Cash leaves before the full cost reaches earnings

1. Capex spent (Cash leaves now) to Under construction (No depreciation yet)
2. Under construction (No depreciation yet) to Equipment running (Depreciation begins)
3. Equipment running (Depreciation begins) to Payback (Cloud and ad revenue)

To test whether returns justify the spending, use the free AI capex ROI scorecard. Member research covers where the next infrastructure dollar goes and what could break first.

Questions readers ask

Is all $732.5 billion spent on AI?

No. It's the four companies' total capex guidance, which also covers other servers, fulfillment, robotics and satellites. Amazon's plan is the least AI-specific. None of the four reports an audited AI capex line, so the total measures the size of the infrastructure build, not AI alone.

Why did Microsoft's guidance fall if it isn't building less?

Some leases were reclassified from finance leases, which count as capex, to operating leases, which don't. The CFO said that, outside the useful-life change, the 2026 investment plan was unchanged. The headline dropped from about $190 billion to about $175 billion because of the accounting, not the building.

How much has Amazon spent so far in 2026?

Amazon's cash purchases of property and equipment were $44.2 billion in Q1 and $54.2 billion in Q2, according to its Q2 Form 10-Q. That's $98.4 billion in the first half, or 45% of its roughly $220 billion plan, the highest share of the four. The cash strain shows: Amazon's trailing free cash flow swung to a $7.6 billion outflow in its Q2 update.

Does more hyperscaler spending mean supplier stocks will keep rising?

Not automatically. Supplier revenue depends on budgets that can be cut, which makes these businesses cyclical. A stock's price-to-earnings multiple may already assume the spending continues, so check what the price expects before assuming more capex means more upside.

When does this page update?

After the companies' Q3 reports in late October, or sooner if guidance changes materially.

Go deeper with member research

The tracker tells you how much is being spent. Member reports ask what that spending is worth to shareholders, company by company:

• Meta jumped 11%. What must happen next to justify the price?: Muse, subscription economics, the cash-flow burden, legal costs and the earnings assumptions baked into the new share price.
• Issue 05: NVIDIA Is Building the Credit Market for AI: How NVIDIA turns its roadmap into cheaper capital for customers, and why AI infrastructure could move into private credit, insurance balance sheets and securitized debt.

Limits of this data

• Guidance is forward-looking and can change at any earnings report.
• The combined total adds four different capex definitions.