AI Infrastructure Capital Intensity: Capex vs. Operating Cash Flow
Cash capital spending rose much faster than operating cash flow across the five-company cohort.
Across Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Oracle, latest selected TTM cash capex totaled $566.4B against $692.3B of operating cash flow. That puts cash capex at 81.81% of operating cash flow, up from 60.80% in the comparable prior-year TTM periods.
Every company became more capital intensive
All five companies had a higher cash-capex-to-operating-cash-flow ratio than in the comparable prior-year TTM period. Oracle had the highest latest ratio, while Amazon and Oracle spent more on cash capex than they generated in operating cash flow.
Latest cash capex as a share of operating cash flow
Latest cash capital expenditures as a percentage of operating cash flow for the five reviewed companies.
| Company | Latest period | Latest capex / OCF | Prior capex / OCF | Change | Latest cash capex | Latest OCF | Latest FCF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft (MSFT) | June 30, 2026 | 63.38% | 47.41% | +15.97 pp | $115.9B | $182.9B | $67.0B |
| Alphabet (GOOGL / GOOG) | June 30, 2026 | 71.31% | 50.09% | +21.22 pp | $132.4B | $185.7B | $53.3B |
| Amazon (AMZN) | June 30, 2026 | 107.20% | 88.87% | +18.33 pp | $173.0B | $161.4B | $-11.6B |
| Meta Platforms (META) | June 30, 2026 | 68.55% | 50.99% | +17.56 pp | $89.3B | $130.3B | $41.0B |
| Oracle (ORCL) | May 31, 2026 | 174.07% | 101.89% | +72.18 pp | $55.7B | $32.0B | $-23.7B |
Why these companies are in the cohort
The measurement comes from SEC Company Facts. Cohort selection separately requires a primary filing that connects substantial current capital spending to AI, cloud, compute, or data-center infrastructure.
Microsoft's fiscal 2026 Form 10-K describes substantial and increasing capital expenditures for cloud and AI infrastructure, including datacenters, components, and energy.
Open the SEC filing ↗Alphabet's second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q states that capital raised in June may be used for capital expenditures to scale AI infrastructure and global compute capacity.
Open the SEC filing ↗Amazon's second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q says cash capital expenditures primarily reflect technology infrastructure, with the majority supporting AWS growth, and that spending includes AI and machine-learning initiatives.
Open the SEC filing ↗Meta's second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q says its anticipated 2026 capital expenditures support AI efforts as well as the core business.
Open the SEC filing ↗Oracle's fiscal 2026 Form 10-K says cash capital expenditures rose primarily because of data-center expansion and are expected to continue increasing.
Open the SEC filing ↗Cash-flow and capex measurements use the SEC Company Facts API ↗. Raw Company Facts records are not redistributed in the public download.
Methodology and limitations
canonical cash capex divided by operating cash flow.
operating cash flow minus canonical cash capex.
For each company, use the latest normalized TTM period whose underlying operating-cash-flow and capex quarter facts were publicly filed by the filing cutoff. Use the latest earlier eligible TTM period ending 330 to 400 days before the selected latest TTM period.
Amazon uses the reviewed U.S.-GAAP productive-assets purchase concept for cash capex. Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Oracle use payments to acquire property, plant, and equipment.
Download the reviewed comparison
Research data
- Download CSVCSVCompany comparison CSVFive public company rows with latest and prior operating cash flow, cash capex, free cash flow, capital intensity, growth, cohort shares, and accounting-concept provenance.Data snapshot August 31, 2026 · Reuse with attribution to the canonical study.
- Download JSONJSONCapital-intensity JSONStructured derived research data with aggregate findings, the five reviewed company comparisons, primary filing links, and methodology boundaries. CIKs, raw SEC records, hashes, review metadata, and generated timestamps are excluded.Data snapshot August 31, 2026 · Reuse with attribution to the canonical study.
Related research
Citation and reuse
When citing the cohort result, preserve the five-company universe, the August 31, 2026 filing cutoff, the mixed fiscal-calendar boundary, and the distinction between total-company cash capex and AI-specific spending. For methodology questions or corrections, contact Grizzly Bulls research.