Tech giants ramp AI spending but investors favour Alphabet’s cash-flow balance

Major U.S. technology firms—Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Meta Platforms Inc.—announced large increases in capital expenditure as they build out AI infrastructure and data-centres globally. While all three posted strong revenue growth, investors reacted most positively to Alphabet, whose capital-spend remains a lower share of its operating cash-flow. Microsoft and Meta had higher ratios of cap-ex to cash-flow, raising concerns about their investment returns. The move underscores investor scrutiny of spending efficiency amid the AI build-out.