Tech giants' earnings night saw mixed stock performances, but capital expenditures are surging across the board.

```

Although the latest earnings season has brought different fortunes to the stock prices of major tech companies, one unmistakable signal has emerged: all giants are investing in AI at an unprecedented scale. Whether it's Microsoft, Google, or Meta, they are all planning or have already undertaken record-breaking capital expenditures to build the infrastructure required for AI, underscoring the industry's firm bet on the future of AI.

After hours on Wednesday, the market reacted differently to the results of tech giants. The stock of Google’s parent company Alphabet rose 5% due to accelerated revenue growth in all business lines; Meta, despite better-than-expected revenue, saw its stock plunge 8% due to a sharp increase in spending; Microsoft’s stock fell by more than 2% after results basically met expectations.

However, behind these stock price fluctuations, the surge in capital expenditures (Capex) has become the common thread running through all earnings reports. Both Google and Meta have raised their capital expenditure guidance for 2025, and have indicated that investments will “significantly” increase further in 2026. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s capital expenditure for the just-ended quarter has far exceeded market expectations, setting a company record.

This round of collaborative “cash-burning” reflects the fierce competition among tech giants to meet the explosive demand for AI and cloud computing. For investors, this is both a demonstration of corporate confidence and a trigger for prudent consideration of the payback period for massive investments—in the grand narrative of AI, astronomical costs are becoming a focal point for the market.

Google and Meta: Raising guidance, aiming at the future

In the arms race for AI infrastructure, Google and Meta are conveying their expansion determination to the market through clear guidance.

Google’s parent company Alphabet announced that its capital expenditures for 2025 are expected to be between $91 billion and $93 billion. This not only exceeds the previous guidance of $85 billion, but also marks the second time the company has raised this estimate this year. More notably, CFO Anat Ashkenazi stated that capital expenditure for 2026 is expected to increase “significantly”. Behind these moves is strong demand for Google Cloud, whose backlog grew 46% quarter-on-quarter, reaching a total of $155 billion.

Similarly, Meta has raised its spending expectations. Meta increased its 2025 capital expenditure guidance from the previous $66-72 billion range to $70-72 billion. The company also warned that the dollar increase in capital expenditure for 2026 will be “obviously greater” than 2025, and that the overall growth rate of spending will “accelerate significantly,” primarily driven by infrastructure costs, including cloud spending and depreciation. This frank forecast of future costs directly pressured its stock price after the earnings report.

Microsoft: Spending exceeds expectations, revealing supply bottlenecks

Unlike Google and Meta, which are focused on the future, Microsoft’s current scale of spending has already taken the market by surprise.

According to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood emphasized that the company’s capital expenditure in the just-ended first fiscal quarter (ended September) reached a record $34.9 billion, far higher than the general market expectation of $30 billion. Hood wrote in the memo: “Demand continues to accelerate, and we are investing to seize future opportunities.”

However, this record spending did not boost the stock price. Microsoft’s shares fell more than 3% after hours, partly due to market concerns that AI and cloud computing demand growth has outpaced the company’s supply capacity. Reports indicate that investors are generally worried whether these giants’ massive investments in AI infrastructure can yield matching returns. This above-expectation spending both demonstrates Microsoft’s determination to meet strong demand and indirectly confirms the current tight supply situation in the AI computing power market.

Opportunities and Risks: Investors’ Dual Considerations

The collective massive investments by tech giants sketch out a blueprint for the future of AI for investors, but also come with obvious risks.

The opportunity lies in the fact that these investments are based on real and continuously growing customer demand. Google Cloud’s 32% annual revenue growth, multi-billion—and even tens of billions—dollar contracts with companies like Anthropic and Meta, and the monthly active users for its AI application Gemini reaching 650 million, all prove the enormous potential of AI commercialization.

But risks cannot be ignored. The market reactions to Meta and Microsoft’s stock prices indicate rising sensitivity to costs. Investors are closely scrutinizing how long it will take for these tens of billions of dollars of investments to be converted into meaningful profits. As Business Insider points out, Wall Street is generally worried about the final return on these large-scale AI investments.

In conclusion, this earnings season clearly shows that tech giants are engaging in an all-out gamble, betting on leadership in the era of AI. Despite their varied stock price trends, their unified actions on capital spending signal that the global tech infrastructure landscape will be reshaped in the coming years. For investors, finding a balance between long-term growth prospects and current cost pressures will be the key challenge for the foreseeable future.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market is risky; investments should be made cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the specific investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific circumstances. Invest accordingly at your own risk. ```