- Big Tech is gaining momentum when it comes to AI monetization, but capex continues to far outpace operating cash flow.
- The company spending the most on capex in 2026 just went free cash flow negative, and our estimates suggest it may not be alone by year-end.
- Meanwhile, most of Big Tech is tapping capital markets to fortify their balance sheets, leading to huge debt increases.
Big Tech’s AI revenue is accelerating, but free cash flow is moving sharply in the opposite direction. Across Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, capex is rising much faster than operating cash flow as Big Tech races to build out AI infrastructure. While this is well understood, what may come as a surprise to investors is these highly liquid companies with strong earnings could soon, one-by-one, turn free cash flow negative as we move into 2027.
In part one of our Big Tech earnings preview “Is AI Monetization Finally Catching Up to Capex?”, we examined AI monetization drivers supporting growth across these prominent AI companies. Below, we turn to the other side of the equation by looking at cash and debt balances, including how cash flow stacks up against surging capex.
Notably, the Big Tech company spending the most on capex in 2026 already turned free cash flow negative, and our estimates suggest it may not be alone by year-end.
Google Taps Capital Markets as FCF Drops Over 40%
Starting with Google, the company ended Q1 with cash of $126.8 billion. Despite this war chest, Google has issued $20 billion in debt since Q1 ended, putting its pro forma debt balance at just over $100 billion. It also announced a massive multi-phase $84.75 billion gross equity raise.
The first equity sale will put approximately $44.4 billion worth of net cash proceeds on its balance sheet, while the remaining $40 billion offering will be executed over time, beginning in Q3. Together, its Q1 debt and equity proceeds would increase the company’s pro forma cash balance to approximately $190 billion, before taking into account Q2 results.
This gives the company a huge amount of liquidity to absorb future capex, which could be needed as capex continues to grow faster than operating cash flow (OCF). Capex increased by 107.4% YOY last quarter to $35.7 billion, coming in 1.8X higher than Google Cloud’s total revenue of $20 billion. Meanwhile, OCF rose just 26.7% to $45.8 billion. This led free cash flow (FCF) to fall (46.3%) to $10.1 billion, while over the last twelve months, FCF fell (21.9%) to $64.4 billion.
Google’s 2026 capex guidance of $180 billion to $190 billion implies capex of $149.3 billion for the rest of the year, at the midpoint. If Google repeats its LTM OCF growth of 31.5% over all of 2026, it would generate $170.8 billion in OCF during the rest of the year. This would lead to FCF of around $31.6 billion for the full year, down (56.9%) YoY. It is also possible that FCF could move below zero in a given quarter due to lumpiness.
Another path to negative free cash flow would be for capex to grow more than 44% from 2026 levels. While that is above the current forecast of 30.2% growth, it is not implausible following an estimated 105% increase in 2026. If Google’s capex grows 44% or more in 2027, it would exceed projected OCF and become free cash flow negative.
The current forecast then assumes capex growth slows sharply to just 7% in 2028, which may also prove too low. Based on projected OCF, capex growth of approximately 18% or more in 2028 would keep Google free cash flow negative for a second consecutive year. In other words, Google would be free cash flow negative in both 2027 and 2028 if capex grows at least 44% in 2027 and 18% in 2028.
Overall, even with Google Cloud growth nearly doubling to 63% YoY versus 32% YoY in Q2 2025, Google’s capex continued to far outpace this.
Microsoft Avoids Capital Raises, FCF Could Turn Red
Microsoft ended last quarter with $78.2 billion in cash, down (1.7%) YoY, but unlike Google, it has not announced any debt or equity raises since, with its company’s long-term debt sitting at $40.3 billion.
Notably, Microsoft’s capex grew by 84.4% last quarter, or more than 3X faster than the 26% increase in OCF. Still, OCF of $46.7 billion was more than 1.5X higher than capex, which came in at $30.9 billion. With Microsoft’s AI business achieving an over $37 billion ARR, implied revenue for the quarter was near $9.25 billion, or just 30% of capex.
Microsoft’s FCF picture is showing mixed signals, as quarterly FCF declined (22.2%) YoY to $15.8 billion, while LTM FCF rose moderately by 5.1% YOY to $72.9 billion. Microsoft’s current capex guidance is $190 billion for 2026, or $159.1 billion over the next three quarters. Repeating its LTM OCF growth of 30.2% over all of calendar 2026 would lead to OCF of $162.3 billion for the remainder of the year. In turn, this estimate would put Microsoft barely above breakeven FCF over that time.
Notably, over the last 12 months, Microsoft has not tapped equity or debt markets to fund its AI buildout. In fact, the company’s cash from financing was -$56.1 billion over this period. This compares to -$7.4 billion at Meta, $7.9 billion at Google, and $62.5 billion for Amazon, not including financing activities since the end of last quarter. In other words, the cash Microsoft is using for dividends, buybacks, and debt repayment far exceeds the cash it is bringing in from issuing debt or shares.
Despite this, Microsoft’s disclosed AI revenue is well behind its capex, and the company is flirting with negative FCF generation in 2026 if OCF growth decelerates.
Meta’s FCF Remains Resilient Despite Rising AI Capex
At the end of Q1, Meta held $81.2 billion in cash, an increase of 15.6% YoY. Meta greatly increased its cash balance after issuing $29.9 billion in debt during Q4. Since the end of Q1, Meta has issued another $25 billion worth of debt. This brings its pro forma debt to approximately $83.7 billion, up 190% versus Q2 2025, and pro forma cash to around $105 billion.
Meta’s OCF grew by 34.1% in Q1 to $32.2 billion, while capex, including principal payments on finance leases, increased by 44.5% to $19.8 billion. In Q3 2025, Meta disclosed that its end-to-end AI-powered ad tools, known as Advantage+, passed $60 billion in ARR. This figure would need to have hit $80 billion in Q1 for capex to equal AI monetization; possible, but not verifiable.
Due to Meta starting off at a much larger OCF base, its FCF managed to increase by 20.4% YOY to $12.4 billion. However, on an LTM basis, OCF rose just 29% to $124 billion, and capex rose 73% to $75.7 billion, leading LTM FCF to fall 7.8% to $48.3 billion.
Meta forecasts capex, including principal payments on finance leases, of $135 billion at the midpoint in 2026, or $115.2 billion for the rest of the year. This implies average capex of $38.4 billion over that period, or nearly double its Q1 spend. In turn, Meta’s capital intensity should be much higher through the rest of 2026, with revenue not expected to grow nearly as fast.
Notably, to hit OCF of $38.4 billion in Q2, the figure would need to grow by 50.2% YOY. This would be a high bar to clear, creating potential for Meta to turn free cash flow negative if capex scales abruptly. However, a gradual scaling of capex throughout the year would ease this burden greatly and allow OCF to catch up over time.
Repeating its 29% LTM OCF growth rate would lead to OCF of $117 billion. Meta would manage to stay slightly FCF positive, although even a slight deceleration would put it up against negative FCF territory for the rest of 2026.
