Overview
- Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta reported stronger-than-expected results and outlined much larger budgets for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.
- Alphabet raised its full-year capital spending outlook to $180 billion to $190 billion after reporting $35.7 billion in the quarter, and its shares jumped more than 6%.
- Meta lifted its 2026 capital plan to $125 billion to $145 billion for AI labs and models, and its stock fell about 10% as it moved to cut costs with new layoffs.
- Microsoft logged about $31.9 billion in quarterly investment tied to GPUs and Azure cloud growth, while Amazon spent $44.2 billion and is targeting $200 billion by 2026.
- Analysts said today’s lofty valuations depend on AI delivering real productivity gains and disciplined spending, or profits and free cash flow could come under pressure.