This Key Metric for Amazon and Alphabet Will Take a Huge Hit in 2026 Thanks to Massive AI Spending. Here's What It Means for Investors.

Core Insights - Amazon and Alphabet announced significant increases in their AI-related capital expenditures for 2026, with Alphabet planning to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion, while Amazon aims for approximately $200 billion [1][2]. Group 1: Investment Plans - Both companies are heavily investing to meet the rising demand for computing power from AI developers, including their own projects [2]. - The substantial capital expenditures will likely lead to a decline in free cash flow for both companies, potentially approaching $0 or becoming negative in 2026 [4]. Group 2: Financial Health - Alphabet may avoid negative free cash flow in 2026, having generated $165 billion in operating cash flow in 2025, with growth expected as its cloud business scales [5]. - Alphabet ended the year with $127 billion in cash equivalents and marketable securities, but plans to raise $32 billion in debt for data center expansion, adding to its existing long-term debt of $36 billion [6]. - Amazon is expected to experience negative free cash flow, with its operating cash flow of $140 billion not growing as rapidly as Alphabet's, making it unlikely to achieve the necessary growth to cover its $200 billion capital expenditures [7].