Big Tech's Cash Crunch: How Microsoft Pays Cash, While Alphabet Borrows

Microsoft is funding its AI buildout almost entirely from cash flow, leaving $19.6 billion in free cash flow after spending $35.8 billion on net capital expenses last quarter.

Alphabet, on the other hand, generated negative free cash flow for the first time since its IPO in 2004, with a loss of $5.9 billion. However, it still has robust trailing-12-month cash flows of $53.3 billion and held $126.8 billion of liquid reserves at the end of Q1.

Amazon is borrowing heavily to fund its AI buildout, selling $25 billion of bonds in July. Meta Platforms is leaning into debt as well, pushing borrowings to $83.7 billion, while also bringing in financial giant BlackRock for a data center project in El Paso, Texas.

Oracle is taking on heavy debt and getting customers to pre-fund part of its infrastructure build through multiyear AI computing deals. The company raised $43 billion of debt in fiscal 2026 and plans another $40 billion this year, making it the largest non-financial borrower in the U.S. investment-grade market.