Hyperscalers plan $635–700B capex

Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle are lining up roughly $685 billion of capital spending in 2026, turning the artificial intelligence buildout into a data-center construction boom. (cnbc.com) (ciodive.com) The clearest new number came from Amazon on February 5, when it said it expects about $200 billion in 2026 capital expenditures after AWS revenue rose 24% to $35.6 billion in the fourth quarter. (ir.aboutamazon.com) Alphabet said on February 4 that its 2026 capital expenditures are expected to reach $175 billion to $185 billion, after Google Cloud revenue jumped 48% to $17.7 billion in the fourth quarter. (abc.xyz) (s206.q4cdn.com) Meta said on January 28 that 2026 capital expenditures will be $115 billion to $135 billion, up from $72.22 billion in 2025, as it spends on Meta Superintelligence Labs and core infrastructure. (investor.atmeta.com) (datacenterdynamics.com) Microsoft has not posted a single full-year capex target in the same format, but its fiscal 2026 spending pace implies about $145 billion on an annualized basis, according to CNBC’s compilation after the company’s January 28 results. Microsoft said Azure revenue grew 39% and commercial remaining performance obligation reached $625 billion. (cnbc.com) (microsoft.com) Oracle added another $50 billion plan for its current fiscal year after lifting its forecast from $35 billion in December, saying the “vast majority” of the spending is revenue-generating equipment going into data centers. (ciodive.com) Put together, those company figures land in the high-$600-billion range for 2026, depending on how Microsoft’s run rate and fiscal calendars are counted. For Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft alone, CNBC calculated a combined range of about $635 billion to $665 billion. (cnbc.com) (finance.yahoo.com) The spending is not just for chips. These companies are paying for land, power hookups, buildings, servers, networking gear and the cooling systems that keep dense racks of graphics processors running around the clock. (cnbc.com) (aws.amazon.com) Investors are treating the numbers as both demand signal and warning sign. CNBC reported that Amazon could swing to negative free cash flow in 2026 under some analyst models, while Alphabet already tapped the bond market in November as debt climbed with spending. (cnbc.com) The next test comes from results, not forecasts. Alphabet reports first-quarter 2026 earnings on April 29, and investors will be looking for more evidence that cloud growth, model sales and advertising gains can keep pace with the largest infrastructure buildout the sector has attempted. (abc.xyz)