Microsoft keeps capex forecast unchanged, becoming one of the first data center giants to hold the line on AI spending

Jul 30, 2026 05:04 AM - 3 hours ago 2

Satya Nadella

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Sven Hoppe/picture confederation via Getty Images

Microsoft kept its capex forecast unchanged connected Wednesday, becoming 1 of the first information halfway giants to clasp the statement connected the industry's runaway AI spending spree.

The banal surged astir 8% connected the news.

Earlier this year, the institution said it planned to walk $190 cardinal connected superior expenditures this almanac year.

On Wednesday's net call, Microsoft kept this spending forecast steady. Due to an accounting change, this capex guidance is now $175 billion. However, successful reality, Microsoft is keeping its AI capex scheme the aforesaid for this year.

The determination to support a lid connected capex is unusual. Most unreality giants person been steadily expanding their AI spending forecasts arsenic they title each different to drawback a large stock of this fast-growing market.

However, investors person go progressively concerned astir the returns connected these immense investments. That's led immoderate connected Wall Street to wonderment whether tech giants would blink during this earning season.

Alphabet precocious increased its capex projection by $15 billion. Tesla besides bumped up its ain projection. Both stocks fell sharply past week connected the news arsenic investors punished the higher spending plans. And connected Wednesday, Meta narrowed its ain capex forecast range, raising the midpoint by $2.5 cardinal for the year.

Even anterior to Alphabet's accrued forecast, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta had already laid retired plans to walk more than $700 cardinal this year mostly connected AI information centers.

That spending binge has sent the value of representation chips soaring this year. Memory is simply a large portion of information halfway costs, truthful these increases person made it much costly to build AI capacity.

This intends that rising AI capex forecasts person been astatine slightest partially driven by higher representation costs, alternatively than caller plans to build much capacity.

Earlier research recovered that soaring representation prices could explicate astir 45% of the maturation successful capex by the large unreality companies this year.

So, pinch Microsoft keeping its capex plans steady, this could connote the institution really ends up pulling backmost somewhat from building much capacity.

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