The free cash flow of six major US tech giants—Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple—has diverged significantly. Since 2025, their overall cash flow has been weakening, with the latest quarter showing negative values totaling approximately $50-55 billion, the deepest level since 2000. Specifically, Amazon's free cash flow was negative $34.8 billion, Alphabet's was negative $9.1 billion, Oracle's was negative $5.4 billion, and Meta's was negative $1.2 billion; Microsoft, however, remained positive at $18.6 billion. Free cash flow refers to the cash remaining after deducting capital expenditures from operating activities. This deterioration is primarily related to the rapid growth in investment in data centers, AI chips, and power infrastructure: while operating cash flow is still growing, capital expenditures are growing even faster, and some giants can no longer rely solely on operating cash flow to cover investment expenditures. This means that the speed at which returns on AI investments are realized will increasingly directly impact a company's ability to raise subsequent financing, repurchase shares, and pay dividends.
