Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta collectively plan to spend $725 billion on capex in 2026, up 77% from last year's record $410 billion, according to first-quarter earnings compiled by the Financial Times. Google delivered the strongest results, with cloud revenue jumping 63% year over year to $20 billion, while rising memory chip prices pushed spending forecasts higher at both Microsoft and Meta.
"The AI economy is healthy," Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies, told the Financial Times, adding that recent revenue growth justified the enormous capital outlays. "The bear thesis is garbage."
