NEW YORK, July 23, 2026, 11:11 a.m. EDT
By late morning Thursday, four leading AI infrastructure purchasers had collectively lost roughly $566 billion. U.S. markets were still trading at 11:11 a.m. EDT.
The analysis includes Alphabet NASDAQ:GOOGL, Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT, Meta Platforms NASDAQ:META, and Amazon.com NASDAQ:AMZN. By 10:55 a.m. EDT, the combined equal-weight shares had dropped 4.6%.
Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA, Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ:AMD and Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO each dropped by 1.9% on average. The difference in performance between buyers and suppliers stood at 2.8 percentage points.
| AI-chain role | Company | Price ($) | Daily change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buyer | Alphabet | 317.74 | -7.1% |
| Buyer | Microsoft | 379.77 | -2.7% |
| Buyer | Meta Platforms | 603.68 | -3.7% |
| Buyer | Amazon.com | 232.72 | -5.0% |
| Buyer average | Equal-weight basket | — | -4.6% |
| Supplier | Nvidia | 207.33 | -2.2% |
| Supplier | Advanced Micro Devices | 543.21 | -1.7% |
| Supplier | Broadcom | 389.82 | -1.8% |
| Supplier average | Equal-weight basket | — | -1.9% |
Prices reflect a delay until 10:55 a.m. EDT. The quoted figures are used to compute both basket averages and market-value loss.
The wider market declined as well, though losses were not as severe as those seen in the buyer basket. At 9:54 a.m. EDT, the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) slipped 1.7%, while the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) dropped 1.0%.
Alphabet initiated the split following a negative quarterly free cash flow of $5.855 billion, marking the first time the company has posted a negative result for this metric.
Operating cash flow totaled $39.069 billion, and capital expenditures rose to $44.924 billion.
The company increased its 2026 capital spending outlook to a range of $195 billion-$205 billion, up from its previous estimate of $180 billion-$190 billion.
“Demand still outpaces that investment,” said finance chief Anat Ashkenazi. An improved outlook was also attributed to quicker capacity delivery. Reuters
Revenue demonstrated the rationale behind management’s ongoing expenditures amid persistent cash outflows. Google Cloud revenue surged 82% to $24.8 billion.
Cloud growth was anticipated by analysts to be 64%. Total revenue amounted to $119.8 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $116.9 billion.
Alphabet reported its first-ever direct TPU chip sales, but shares slipped 7.1% to $317.74. Thursday’s drop indicated robust growth did not protect substantial AI investment plans.
According to analyst forecasts, Alphabet’s capex-to-revenue ratio for the present fiscal year is 41%, with Microsoft’s at 45%. Meta’s figure is 54.9%, while Amazon registers 25%. All are significantly higher than their respective levels a year earlier.
Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets, said, “Investors will increasingly focus on how much cash must be reinvested simply to remain competitive.” Reuters
A new order from AMD provided support for the supplier sector. Anthropic is set to roll out as much as two gigawatts of MI450-series systems.
The initial gigawatt is expected in the first half of 2027. AMD has also pledged as much as $5 billion toward an equity stake in Anthropic.
Risks: Supplier stability hinges on hyperscalers maintaining their current orders. AMD plans to launch its Anthropic project in 2027, with the potential investment commitment totaling up to $5 billion. Any slowdown in spending or delays may reduce the present gap.
Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are set to announce results next week. Their investment strategies will be key for Thursday’s 2.8-point gap. In the meantime, declines among chip suppliers have eased.
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