Big Tech's AI Spending Spree Sparks Market Reactions

Two of the largest companies on Earth, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, reported earnings within hours of each other. Their market reactions were vastly different, with Microsoft's stock price surging by 8% after posting $90 billion in quarterly revenue, an 18% year-over-year jump.

META, on the other hand, saw its stock decline by 10% despite reporting a faster 28% growth rate to $60.8 billion in revenue. The culprit behind Meta's underwhelming earnings was infrastructure spending, with estimated capital expenditures for 2026 ranging from $115 billion to $135 billion.

Microsoft's cloud computing division, Azure, powered its Q2 results and achieved a $37 billion annual run rate, up 123% year-over-year. This growth demonstrates the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in Big Tech's capex plans.

The projected AI-related capital expenditures across major tech companies for 2026 are expected to reach $635 billion to $665 billion, a staggering 70% increase from approximately $381 billion in 2025. This surge in demand for compute resources has significant implications for the crypto market, particularly those involved in decentralized compute and AI utility.