Big Tech Spent $230B on AI, But Its Cash Flow Is Now Deep in the Red

Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle collectively spent $230 billion on capital expenditure in the third quarter of 2026, which is greater than double the quantity recorded a 12 months earlier.

According to Binance Research, their mixed working money stream stood at simply $199 billion, which leaves free money stream at detrimental $32 billion, a pointy reversal from the $61 billion surplus reported a 12 months in the past.

AI Spending Boom

Despite the rising hole, firms are exhibiting little curiosity in slowing down. Amazon maintained its 2026 capex outlook at round $220 billion, whereas Alphabet projected spending of $195 billion to $205 billion, with one other important improve anticipated in 2027.

Microsoft stays the solely firm amongst the 5 nonetheless funding its spending via money stream. Debt is more and more filling the hole as AI-related US greenback bond issuance reached roughly $419 billion by mid-October, already round 90% increased than the whole for all of 2025.

Investors are additionally turning into extra selective. Alphabet shares dropped 12.6% after its outcomes, whereas Meta fell 7%, as each firms raised spending expectations regardless of detrimental free money stream. The strain spilled into crypto markets too. Bitcoin slipped beneath $80,000 twice in October as know-how shares weakened. Binance Research additionally flagged a change in derivatives positioning, as merchants diminished publicity to semiconductor shares and elevated bets on firms investing closely in AI infrastructure.

In the close to time period, crypto stays weak to additional swings in AI sentiment. Binance Research believes crypto might have a bonus over the long run if the AI-driven inventory rally begins to lose steam. Bitcoin has gained comparatively little from the rally in AI-related shares, which signifies that it could have much less publicity if traders start pulling cash out of the sector.

bStocks Crosses the $1B Mark

Meanwhile, bStocks has reached $1 billion in belongings underneath administration (AUM) simply 125 days after launch, hitting the milestone in lower than half the time taken by different issuers. But its progress isn’t just about the quantity of tokenized shares being issued. According to Binance Research, 18.54% of bStocks’ energetic belongings are actually getting used throughout DeFi, in contrast with the trade common of 13.91%. This primarily means that extra traders are placing their tokenized shares to work via on-chain monetary companies relatively than merely holding them.

bStocks additionally accounted for greater than 60% of the progress in the tokenized inventory market throughout the interval. The figures level to growing demand for tokenized equities that provide extra than simply possession, together with 24/7 buying and selling and entry to DeFi functions equivalent to lending and liquidity swimming pools. Higher DeFi utilization might additionally enable extra capital to stream into these companies with out requiring an identical improve in the variety of tokenized shares.

“The key query, due to this fact, is whether or not DeFi utilization can stay structurally above the trade common whereas the asset base continues to develop.”

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