Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and SpaceX are on track to spend between $803 billion and $828 billion in capital expenditures this calendar year. Executives at each company point to AI infrastructure as the main driver and say they plan to keep spending.
The five companies are on track to spend between $803 billion and $828 billion this calendar year, based on their guidance and disclosed fourth-quarter plans. Each one reported a jump in capital expenditures in its latest earnings report.
The figure covers broad spending, not just AI. However, executives at each company have consistently pointed to AI infrastructure as the main driver of the capex surge, and all have indicated they plan to keep it up.
Q3 spending reaches about $227 billion
Across all five companies, Q3 spending was about $227 billion, about a 20% increase from the $188.5 billion spent the previous quarter. Amazon was the biggest spender, reporting $75.9 billion in cash capex. CFO Brian Olsavsky said on Thursday that the figure is primarily related to AWS and AI.
SpaceX remains the smallest spender, with capex of $48.1 billion. Its CFO, Bret Johnsen, has indicated the company expects to ramp up spending by the next quarter. Counting all three quarters, the five companies have spent $556.2 billion so far in 2026.
Fourth-quarter forecast tops out at $272 billion
Next quarter's implied capex forecast ranges between $247 billion and $272 billion. The low end assumes Meta and Alphabet hit the low ends of their full-year capex ranges. Based on the implied fourth-quarter calculations, Amazon is the only company whose spending would decline from its third-quarter level.
Microsoft expects calendar-year capex of about $170 billion, down from its prior outlook due to delays in third-party data-center capacity. Amazon, meanwhile, maintained its forecast for about $220 billion in cash capex this year.
Executives signal higher spending in 2027
The companies haven't shared concrete numbers for 2027 capex, but all signs point upward. According to Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi on its Q3 earnings call: "We continue to expect our CapEx to increase significantly in 2027."
CEO Andy Jassy said during Thursday's earnings call that Amazon expects to spend meaningfully more in 2027. Meta CFO Susan Li said the company is still developing its budget and capacity plans for next year, but expects to continue investing aggressively to support both its core business and emerging AI initiatives.
Source: Business Insider
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