Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta just hemorrhaged over $1 trillion in combined market value after revealing their most aggressive AI spending plans yet. The sell-off marks a watershed moment for the AI boom, as Wall Street questions whether the hyperscalers' massive infrastructure bets will ever pay off. With Q4 capital expenditures hitting $120 billion and projections soaring to $660 billion for 2026, investors are demanding answers about returns on what's become the largest coordinated tech spending spree in history.
Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta are bleeding. Over $1 trillion vanished from their combined market caps last week, and Monday morning's premarket trading shows investors are still spooked. The trigger? Capital expenditure forecasts that make even seasoned tech analysts blink twice.
The numbers tell a stark story. These four hyperscalers reported a combined $120 billion in capital expenditures for Q4 alone, according to their latest earnings reports. But that's just the warm-up act. Analysts at the Financial Times project the collective 2026 AI infrastructure spend could reach $660 billion - a figure that exceeds the entire gross domestic product of countries like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Israel.
By Monday's 6:12 a.m. ET premarket bell, the damage was still visible. Microsoft managed to edge up 0.8% and Oracle climbed 1.5%, but Meta slipped 0.3%, Amazon dropped 0.1%, and Google fell 0.6%. , the chipmaker fueling this entire infrastructure arms race, gave back some of Friday's 7.9% relief rally, sliding about 1% in early trading.
