2025-05-06 11:35Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" (OW) rating for the covered companies, indicating an expectation of outperforming the average total return of the stocks in the research analyst's coverage universe [29][31][33]. Core Insights - The report highlights robust capital expenditure (capex) growth among major US Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) such as Meta, Microsoft, and Google, with a combined year-over-year growth of 60% [1]. - The positive outlook for capex investments is supported by raised full-year guidance from Meta and reiterated forecasts from Microsoft and Google, suggesting continued strong investment momentum throughout the year [1][3]. - Despite concerns regarding a slowdown in AI investments and tariff impacts, the report suggests limited near-term effects on capex trajectories for the CSPs [1]. Summary by Company Meta - Meta's capex increased by $7 billion year-over-year for the second consecutive quarter, with a 104% rise year-over-year in Q1 2025, reaching $13.7 billion [3]. - The full-year capex outlook for 2025 has been raised to $64-$72 billion, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 73%, driven by AI investments and core business support [3]. Microsoft - Microsoft reported a capex of $21.4 billion for Q3 2025, marking a 53% increase year-over-year, despite a 5% quarter-over-quarter decline [3]. - The company maintains a double-digit growth outlook for fiscal 2H25, with expected year-over-year growth of over 10% for Q4 2025 [3]. Google - Google's capex for Q1 2025 rose by 20% quarter-over-quarter and 43% year-over-year, totaling $17.2 billion, primarily due to infrastructure investments [3]. - The full-year capex outlook for 2025 is reiterated at $75 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth of over 40% [3].