# Four Big Tech Firms’ Q3 Spending Exceeds Cash Flow by $26.4 Billion

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/52027
Published: 2026-11-09T02:46:01.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-09T02:46:01.000Z
Section: Business

> The companies had a $61.7 billion cash flow surplus a year earlier. More than 90% of Nvidia’s revenue comes from data centers.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta spent $26.4 billion more on capital expenditures than they generated in operating cash flow in the third quarter, adding to questions about financing the data-center buildout.

A year earlier, the four companies had generated $61.7 billion more in operating cash flow than they spent on capital expenditures. Amazon’s free cash flow over the past 12 months shifted from a $14.8 billion inflow to a $42.4 billion outflow. Meta’s free cash flow turned negative for the first time in more than a decade.

Nvidia is exposed to the pace of data-center construction because more than 90% of its revenue comes from that business. Its shares fell 9.26% on Nov. 5, erasing more than $440 billion in market value. The decline was two to four times the drops in Microsoft, Google and Amazon shares.

Local votes added a policy dimension to the buildout. Across 10 states, 27 measures restricting or opposing data-center development passed. Results on 40 of the 41 local measures involving data centers favored limiting development.

Cloud-unit results also showed growth in the third quarter. Google Cloud’s operating profit tripled from a year earlier. Amazon Web Services’ operating profit rose to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion, while Microsoft Azure revenue grew 48%. These figures show cloud-unit performance; they do not establish that AI demand drove the growth.

If data-center projects are delayed, cloud companies can push back capital spending, while Nvidia’s chip orders may also be delayed. That leaves the chipmaker more exposed to construction slowdowns even as cloud units post higher profit and revenue.