In June 2026, Alphabet raised $49.6 billion in stock and mandatorily convertible preferred stock, including for “capital expenditures to expand AI infrastructure and global computing.” Google’s parent company has stopped buying back its shares: 11.5 billion from July to September 2025, nothing over the same months of 2026. The third quarter accounts, published on October 28, show the gap to be filled: operations collected 42.3 billion dollars, and investments absorbed 51.4. Free cash flow stood at minus 9.1 billion, after minus 5.9 billion in the second quarter. Over twelve rolling months, it remains positive, at 19.7 billion.
The group also borrows: 20.3 billion in bonds in the second quarter, 28.7 billion in the third. Its long-term debt increased from 46.5 billion at the end of 2025 to 125.1 billion at the end of September. He still sold 12.4 billion net worth of new shares at the market price, through a program intended primarily, according to him, for taxes linked to shares allocated to employees.
Microsoft pays for its servers with what it collects
The same evening, Microsoft’s results for the first quarter of its 2027 fiscal year, ended September 30, showed the opposite. Operations brought in $58 billion and equipment purchases cost $39.4 billion, leaving $18.6 billion in free cash flow. Amy Hood, its financial director, forecasts a positive flow for the financial year.
This contrast has a limit, which Amy Hood let an analyst see during the October 28 conference: “There is a form of financing called leasing, and we use it as a vehicle. » The 45.2 billion investments shown include 7.4 billion in finance leases. Simple rentals do not fall under this regime, and Amy Hood announced during the July 29 conference that an increasing share of the leases of its future data centers would fall under this regime. Microsoft has “not yet” tapped into the bond market, she said, and will tap “additional sources of financing” when it deems it attractive.
Amazon borrowed $48 billion in one quarter
In Amazon’s results, published on October 29, the operation took in $42.4 billion over the quarter. Equipment purchases reached 77.3 billion; once 1.4 billion in transfers and aid are deducted, approximately 33.5 billion are missing. The group raised 48.1 billion in long-term debt in the quarter, and this debt reached 173.1 billion, compared to 65.6 billion at the end of 2025. Amazon maintains a forecast of around 220 billion in investments in 2026.
Meta published a negative free cash flow of 2.1 billion on October 21, compared to a positive 10.6 billion a year earlier. The group did not borrow anything in the quarter. Its long-term debt has still increased by 22 billion since December, after 24.9 billion borrowed in the first half, and its new shares without voting rights must be used in particular for future raisings. Its 2026 investment forecast is tightened to between 135 and 145 billion.
| T3 2026 | Publication | Cloud (over one year) | Operating cash flow | Investments | Trésorerie flux available | Funding raised in the quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | October 28 | Google Cloud : 30,7 Md$ (+103 %) | 42,3 Md$ | 51,4 Md$ | −$9.1 billion (+$19.7 billion over twelve months) | 28,7 Md$ d’obligations, 12,4 Md$ d’actions |
| Microsoft | October 28 | Azure : +48 % | 58,0 Md$ | $45.2 billion, including $7.4 billion in finance leases; $39.4 billion disbursed | +18,6 Md$ | neither debt nor shares; $4.85 billion in debt repaid |
| Amazon | October 29 | AWS : 46,0 Md$ (+39 %) | 42,4 Md$ | $77.3 billion ($75.9 billion net of sales and aid) | approximately −$33.5 billion (ActuIA calculation) | $48.1 billion in long-term debt |
| Meta | October 21 | not applicable | 32,8 Md$ | $34.9 billion (including finance lease repayments) | −2,1 Md$ | none |
Sources: earnings releases, official Microsoft transcript. Amazon quarterly flow recalculated by ActuIA; over twelve months, it is minus 42.4 billion.
In the third quarter, Microsoft was the only one of the four to cover its investments with its operating cash flow, even counting its financing leases: it then had 12.8 billion left. None of these accounts, however, describes a cash-strapped supplier. Alphabet ended September with $265.1 billion in cash and investments, Amazon with $114.2 billion. According to a transcript of the conference published by The Singju Post, Alphabet maintains its 2026 forecast between 195 billion and 205 billion, and its chief financial officer, Anat Ashkenazi, said: “We still expect a significant increase in our investments in 2027.”
Customers stumble over the capacity delivered
Microsoft even reduced its forecast for the calendar year, to around 170 billion from 175 in July. The delays come from third parties who rent computing capacity from it. The quarter was expected to exceed 50 billion in investments and stopped at 45.2, because “some third-party capacity deliveries expected in the first quarter were delayed,” explained Amy Hood, before adding: “Customer demand continues to exceed available supply. » In the transcription of The Singju Post, Anat Ashkenazi evokes a “supply-constrained environment”: Google has been using third-party calculations since the end of September, at the cost of short-term pressure on margins.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which was able to read Anthropic’s draft prospectus, AWS, Google and Microsoft provided Claude’s publisher with less capacity than he requested. Without announcing a cloud price increase, Amy Hood indicated on October 28 that Microsoft had benefited from “higher revenue per token” in the quarter, with prices per token “higher than expected”. Microsoft’s backlog is full: $677 billion in commercial contracts remaining to be executed, all services combined, up 73% year-on-year.
Amy Hood forecasts more than $50 billion in investments in the October-December quarter. Alphabet will provide more details on 2027 with its fourth quarter results, Anat Ashkenazi promised, according to the same transcript. Meta’s Class C shares are scheduled to be distributed to shareholders starting January 19, 2027.
Quotes translated from English by ActuIA.
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