Hyperscaler Free Cash Flow by Quarter: Big Tech Is Now Burning Cash

Big Tech now spends more than it brings in. Last quarter Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta spent $201.9 billion on capex (data centers, chips and equipment) against $175.5 billion of cash from operations. Their combined free cash flow, the cash left after capex, was −$26.4 billion, the first negative quarter in at least eight years of filings, down from +$61.7 billion a year earlier. Only Microsoft is still positive.

Free cash flow is cash from operations minus purchases of property and equipment, from each company's cash flow statement. Oracle's and CoreWeave's latest reported quarters end earlier than the others'. Rows may not add exactly because of rounding.

Big Tech's combined free cash flow went below zero

−40−200204060$80B6 qtrs ago4 qtrs ago2 qtrs agoLatest$61.7B a year earlier−$26.4B−$26.4BBig four combined7 qtrs ago$62.7B6 qtrs ago$42.3B5 qtrs ago$40.2B4 qtrs ago$61.7B3 qtrs ago$60.2B2 qtrs ago$21.0BLast qtr$6.7BLatest−$26.4B

Which hyperscalers have negative free cash flow?

Three of the four. Amazon, Alphabet and Meta all had negative free cash flow last quarter, and so did Oracle and CoreWeave. Microsoft is the only one of the six still producing spare cash, and even its free cash flow is down 27% from a year earlier.

For some it's a first:

• Alphabet has now had two negative quarters in a row, −$5.9 billion and then −$9.1 billion. They are its only negative quarters in more than ten years of quarterly filings.
• Meta's −$1.2 billion is its first negative quarter since its first months as a public company.
• Amazon has had negative quarters before, usually in the first quarter of the year when it pays its suppliers for the holiday season. It hasn't had one this large: −$34.8 billion in three months is worse than any full year in its filings.

Free cash flow by quarter, company by company

Amazon fell furthest, Microsoft stayed positive

−40−20020$40B6 qtrs ago4 qtrs ago2 qtrs agoLatest$18.6BMicrosoft−$9.1BAlphabet−$1.2BMeta−$34.8BAmazon7 qtrs ago$6.5B$24.8B$13.6B$17.8B6 qtrs ago$20.3B$19.0B$11.1B−$8.0B5 qtrs ago$25.6B$5.3B$9.0B$0.3B4 qtrs ago$25.7B$24.5B$11.2B$0.4B3 qtrs ago$5.9B$24.6B$14.8B$14.9B2 qtrs ago$15.8B$10.1B$13.2B−$18.2BLast qtr$19.6B−$5.9B$1.7B−$8.8BLatest$18.6B−$9.1B−$1.2B−$34.8B

Over the last 12 months the four still made $61.5 billion of free cash flow between them, but that's down from $207.0 billion in the 12 months before. The 12-month figure hides how fast things changed, because most of the drop came in the last two quarters.

Why did free cash flow turn negative?

Because capex doubled while the cash the businesses bring in grew by a tenth. Across the big four, last quarter's capex was 108% higher than a year earlier. Cash from operations was up 10%. A year ago capex took 61 cents of every dollar of operating cash. Last quarter it took $1.15.

Capex overtook operating cash flow

Cash from operationsCapex

50100150200$250B0

$135.0B$72.3B

7 qtrs agoCash from operations$135.0BCapex$72.3B

$114.2B$71.9B

6 qtrs agoCash from operations$114.2BCapex$71.9B

$128.5B$88.2B

5 qtrs agoCash from operations$128.5BCapex$88.2B

$159.0B$97.3B

4 qtrs agoCash from operations$159.0BCapex$97.3B

$178.8B$118.6B

3 qtrs agoCash from operations$178.8BCapex$118.6B

$150.7B$129.8B

2 qtrs agoCash from operations$150.7BCapex$129.8B

$171.8B$165.1B

Last qtrCash from operations$171.8BCapex$165.1B

$175.5B$201.9B

LatestCash from operations$175.5BCapex$201.9B

7 qtrs ago6 qtrs ago5 qtrs ago4 qtrs ago3 qtrs ago2 qtrs agoLast qtrLatest

The businesses are still growing their cash; the spending is growing ten times faster. For how much each company plans to spend and how that compares with its guidance, see the hyperscaler AI capex tracker.

Amazon: the biggest cash burn

Amazon spent $77.3 billion on property and equipment last quarter, more than Microsoft and Meta combined, and took in $42.4 billion from operations. That's −$34.8 billion of free cash flow in three months. Over 12 months it's −$46.9 billion.

Amazon's own headline number is a little smaller. Its results release reports 12-month free cash flow of −$42.4 billion, because it subtracts capex after money it gets back from selling equipment and from incentives. We use purchases before those credits, the same measure as the other companies. Either way, Amazon borrowed to cover it: it raised $48.1 billion of long-term debt last quarter.

Alphabet: two negative quarters, and no buybacks

Alphabet's capex was $51.4 billion last quarter, more than double the $24.0 billion of a year earlier, while its cash from operations fell 13% to $42.3 billion. It made no buybacks for a third quarter in a row, after $11.5 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. To keep paying its $2.9 billion dividend and keep building, it raised $29.0 billion of debt and sold $12.4 billion of new stock in the quarter.

Meta: from $11 billion to below zero

Meta's capex rose 80% from a year earlier to $33.9 billion, slightly more than the $32.8 billion its operations brought in. Meta also repays principal on finance leases, long leases it books like loans: $1.0 billion last quarter, from its latest 10-Q. Meta's own free cash flow measure subtracts those too, which makes the figure −$2.1 billion.

Meta has made no buybacks this year. It still paid a $1.4 billion dividend last quarter. After the quarter ended, it priced $37.5 billion of new common and preferred stock, selling shares to pay for the build instead of buying them back.

Microsoft: the one still paying its way

Microsoft's capex rose 103% to $39.4 billion last quarter, but its cash from operations grew 29% to $58.0 billion, so it still had $18.6 billion of free cash flow. It paid out $11.1 billion of that in dividends and buybacks.

That's partly because Microsoft rents much of its data center capacity rather than buying it. Rent doesn't count as capex, and Microsoft has signed $329.1 billion of leases that haven't started yet. Its free cash flow will carry those payments as the buildings come online.

Oracle and CoreWeave: negative for a year or more

Oracle's free cash flow has been negative in six straight quarters, −$28.7 billion over 12 months. CoreWeave's has been negative in every quarter in the chart below, −$13.7 billion over 12 months, on just $6.9 billion of operating cash. Both pay for the gap with debt and new shares. More in Oracle's capex plans and CoreWeave's capex and debt.

Oracle and CoreWeave have burned cash for a year

OracleCoreWeave

−12.5−10.0−7.5−5.0−2.5$2.5B0

−$2.7B−$0.6B

7 qtrs agoOracle−$2.7BCoreWeave−$0.6B

$0.1B−$3.3B

6 qtrs agoOracle$0.1BCoreWeave−$3.3B

−$2.9B−$1.3B

5 qtrs agoOracle−$2.9BCoreWeave−$1.3B

−$0.4B−$2.7B

4 qtrs agoOracle−$0.4BCoreWeave−$2.7B

−$10.0B−$0.7B

3 qtrs agoOracle−$10.0BCoreWeave−$0.7B

−$11.5B−$2.5B

2 qtrs agoOracle−$11.5BCoreWeave−$2.5B

−$1.9B−$4.7B

Last qtrOracle−$1.9BCoreWeave−$4.7B

−$5.4B−$5.7B

LatestOracle−$5.4BCoreWeave−$5.7B

7 qtrs ago6 qtrs ago5 qtrs ago4 qtrs ago3 qtrs ago2 qtrs agoLast qtrLatest

What it means for shareholders

Free cash flow is what pays for buybacks and dividends. When it goes negative, those payouts come from borrowing or from selling new shares, and both cost existing shareholders something.

• Buybacks have stopped at Alphabet and Meta. Buybacks shrink the share count, so each share owns more of the profits. Without them, earnings per share grow only as fast as profits.
• New shares dilute. Alphabet sold stock last quarter and Meta is selling it now. Each new share takes a slice of future profits.
• Debt adds interest. It's still small next to profits for the big four. See the hyperscaler debt tracker for debt, net cash and interest bills.

The price of these stocks still assumes this cash comes back. If the spending produces cloud and AI revenue, free cash flow recovers as capex growth slows. If it doesn't, the buildings and chips stay on the books and get written down over years, through depreciation that's only starting to hit earnings.

Our read

The AI build-out has moved from something the biggest companies paid for out of spare cash to something they borrow and sell stock to pay for, and it happened within a year.

This is a choice, not distress. Combined operating cash is up 10% in a year, and Microsoft shows a company can raise capex sharply and still have cash left over. Alphabet's operating cash did fall last quarter, so watch whether that's a one-off or a trend. For shareholders, the return now depends on the spending paying off, not on buybacks. The number to watch each quarter is the gap between capex growth and operating cash growth. Free cash flow turns back up only when that gap closes.

Frequently asked questions

Is hyperscaler free cash flow negative?

Combined, yes. Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta had −$26.4 billion of free cash flow last quarter. Amazon, Alphabet and Meta were each negative; Microsoft made $18.6 billion.

Why is Amazon's free cash flow negative?

It spent $77.3 billion on property and equipment last quarter, mostly data centers, against $42.4 billion of cash from operations. Its capex has more than doubled in a year.

Is Alphabet's free cash flow negative?

Yes, for the last two quarters: −$5.9 billion and then −$9.1 billion. They are its first negative quarters in more than ten years of quarterly filings.

What is Meta's free cash flow by quarter?

Over the last eight quarters: $13.6bn, $11.1bn, $9.0bn, $11.2bn, $14.8bn, $13.2bn, $1.7bn and −$1.2bn in the latest. Counting finance-lease payments, as Meta does, the latest is −$2.1 billion.

Limits of this data

• Capex here is cash paid for property and equipment. Microsoft's and Meta's headline capex also counts finance leases, so it runs higher than the cash figure.
• Leases that work like rent aren't capex at all. Companies that rent more, Microsoft above all, look better on free cash flow than companies that build.
• Cash from operations moves with the timing of tax payments, supplier bills and customer prepayments. One quarter can swing several billion either way; the 12-month figure is steadier.
• Oracle's fiscal quarters end two months before the calendar ones. CoreWeave hadn't reported its newest quarter when we updated this page.

How we built this

All figures come from 10-Q and 10-K filings through SEC XBRL company facts, using each company's reported cash from operations and purchases of property and equipment (Amazon's "purchases of property and equipment" before proceeds and incentives). Cash flow statements are year-to-date, so each quarter is the year-to-date figure minus the previous one, and fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. The latest quarter is the one ended September 30, 2026 for Microsoft (its fiscal first quarter of 2027), Alphabet, Amazon and Meta; August 31, 2026 for Oracle; and June 30, 2026 for CoreWeave. The eight quarters in the charts run from the quarter ended December 31, 2024 for the big four. "At least eight years" means every quarter for which all four companies' cash flows can be built from XBRL, back to the third quarter of 2017. Alphabet's quarterly XBRL history starts in 2014, and Meta's earlier negative quarters were in 2012. Oracle's fiscal quarters end in February, May, August and November. Microsoft's, Alphabet's and Meta's latest 10-Qs were filed October 22 to 29, 2026, Amazon's on October 30, 2026. We update this page after each quarterly report.

Go deeper with member research

Negative free cash flow means the AI build-out now runs on other people's money. Member reports follow who is lending it, on what collateral, and when the spending has to earn it back:

• Issue 05: NVIDIA Is Building the Credit Market for AI: how GPU capacity is becoming collateral for private credit, insurance balance sheets and securitized debt, the market that fills the gap this page measures.
• Issue 03: The AI Depreciation Clock: when this spending reaches earnings, and what it does to margins.
• Issue 02: The AI Capex Shock: where the next infrastructure dollar goes, who keeps the profit and what could break first.