AI 혁신을 주도하는 주요 하이퍼스케일러 6개사는 2027년 자본 지출로 1조 3천억 달러를 지출할 것으로 예상되며, 양의 자유 현금 흐름을 유지할 것으로 전망되는 기업은 단 한 곳뿐이다.

Hyperscalers driving the artificial intelligence revolution have spent hundreds of billions annually since 2024 to build out AI infrastructure. This includes data centers equipped with various chips, memory, servers, and additional hardware designed to power the insatiable demand for AI, whether from consumers using large language models (LLMs) or companies building out AI solutions or integrating AI into their existing businesses.

Next year, that spending is expected to rise to $1.3 trillion across just six major hyperscalers, according to a new report from S&P Global, which provides grades on the debt issued by most major companies. Only one of these companies—Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)—is projected to have positive free cash flow (FCF) next year.

Besides Microsoft, the five other companies included in S&P’s report were Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), and Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) (SpaceX for short). Collectively, these companies had $470 billion in capital expenditures (capex) in 2025, along with a forecast for $870 billion this year and a projected $1.3 trillion next year. If S&P Global is correct, that means these six companies will increase AI capex by about 50% next year.

That increase is not as high as this year’s percentage jump, but it remains impressive given the substantially larger baseline. On recent earnings calls, most of the CEOs of these companies stated they expect strong capex growth in 2027.

However, this incredible spending has begun to deteriorate the balance sheets of these tech titans—a development that is difficult to fathom, particularly for Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, which have for years generated phenomenal free cash flow (FCF) and earnings.

All the CEOs of these companies have defended this spending, claiming that it will generate compelling returns and that not committing this capital would be an even greater risk by failing to keep up with a technology that could very well change society as we know it.

Institutional investors remain skeptical and, at times, have avoided buying these stocks despite very strong AI-related revenue growth. In the second quarter of this year, three of these companies still generated free operating cash flow. Next year, if S&P Global is correct, only one will.