Overview
- Microsoft and Meta report results on July 29 and Apple and Amazon follow on July 30, creating a concentrated earnings window for investors to judge AI return on investment.
- Court testimony disclosed that Microsoft has spent more than $100 billion tied to OpenAI and datacenter costs, increasing focus on the company’s cash flow and Copilot adoption rates.
- Alphabet raised its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to $195–205 billion, and analysts’ Bloomberg‑compiled estimates put combined big‑tech AI capex near $724–725 billion for 2026 and approaching $950 billion in 2027.
- Markets have shown they will punish firms for rising AI capex even after beats, as seen in recent selloffs for Alphabet and Tesla when investors worried spending was outpacing profits.
- Analysts and traders will watch Azure growth, Microsoft 365 Copilot traction, AWS and Meta ad revenue trends, and next‑quarter capex guidance because weak free cash flow could force valuation resets and slower hiring or product rollouts.