Amazon and Oracle now spend more on data centers than their businesses bring in
Trailing four-quarter operating cash flow divided by capital expenditures. A reading below 1.0x means the buildout is funded with something other than operating cash
Silvia Insights research desk
The AI buildout has split the biggest spenders into two camps. Three still pay their own way, and two are borrowing to keep up.
Microsoft generates 1.44 dollars of operating cash for every dollar of capex, Meta 1.27 and Alphabet 1.12. Amazon sits at 0.78 and Oracle at 0.62, below the line where the business funds its own buildout.
Amazon spent 215 billion dollars on capex over the past year against 168 billion of operating cash flow, and its long-term debt more than tripled to 173 billion. Oracle grew capex 176 percent with the smallest cash base in the group.
Below that line, the gap gets filled with borrowed money and new stock.
This chart comes from a new Silvia Insights research report. Members received the full analysis earlier this week, including the actionable trade ideas, risks and what comes next.
Research is for informational purposes and does not constitute personalized investment advice.
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