Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, and Nvidia spent $1.1 trillion on share buybacks in 5 years to pump up their shares. That’s at risk. One of the big drivers of the surge of stock prices over the past many years has been the prodigious amount of corporate cash spent on share buybacks by Big Tech and other companies. Some of the share buybacks were funded from cash flow, some with borrowed money. Share buybacks are not like stock trading; they represent new money entering the stock market to remove s ...

Core Viewpoint - Steve Eisman warns that Meta Platforms Inc. is losing the AI competition against Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp., stating that Meta cannot sustain the industry's high capital expenditures [1][2]. Group 1: Market Reaction and Earnings - Despite all three companies (Meta, Google, and Microsoft) beating revenue and earnings estimates, Meta's stock fell while Google's stock rose significantly [2]. - Eisman attributes the market's reaction to the scrutiny of who can afford the massive AI capital expenditures, rather than common press explanations [2]. Group 2: Capital Expenditure Comparison - Meta's capital expenditure is in the "low 70 billion" range, while Microsoft is at $80 billion and Google exceeds $90 billion [3]. - The key difference is that Google and Microsoft have substantial cloud businesses generating revenue from their AI investments, whereas Meta lacks a cloud business and its AI spending is solely for new product development [4]. Group 3: Financial Health and Cash Reserves - Meta's cash and cash equivalents decreased by 43% from $77.8 billion at the end of 2024 to $44.4 billion in 2025, contrasting with the increasing cash reserves of Google and Microsoft during the same period [4]. - Eisman concludes that Google and Microsoft are better positioned to handle the financial burden of AI investments compared to Meta [5]. Group 4: AI Boom Outlook - The significant capital expenditures from all three companies indicate that the AI boom is ongoing, countering any notions that the AI narrative is nearing its end [5]. Group 5: Stock Performance - Meta's stock is up 6.13% year-to-date and 11.17% over the year, but it maintains a weaker price trend compared to Microsoft and Google [6]. - Microsoft has increased by 21.16% year-to-date and 20.70% over the year, while Google has surged 49.37% year-to-date and 59.68% over the year, showing stronger price trends across all time frames [7].