Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon earnings to test AI capex returns

The scale of AI infrastructure spending has reached a point where it is beginning to strain the cash-generation profiles of two of these three firms, with Alphabet and Amazon's capex now outpacing operating cash flow. That shift matters because it moves the AI buildout from a story about ambition to one about financing capacity, and it puts pressure on management commentary to justify the pace of outlays. Microsoft's still-positive free cash flow offers a useful contrast. The open question is whether the earnings calls frame this spending as demand-led or defensive.