Microsoft, Meta, and Google just announced billions more in AI spending. Only Google convinced investors it’s paying off

Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft just broke the news to investors that they’ll be spending billions more on the AI race. But only some investors saw red in response. 

Meta’s stock dropped more than 6% after hours, while Microsoft was essentially flat. Conversely, the share price of Google parent Alphabet rose almost 7% in after-hours trading.

Investors have been on tenterhooks about capital expenditures among the big tech firms, with recent estimates showing combined capex related to AI will exceed $600 billion in 2026 alone. Analysts have been seeking more details from CEOs about when they expect to see a return on investment materialize, and markets are bruising companies if they don’t hear what they’re looking for from executives. 

At Alphabet, the clear differentiator came from Google’s Cloud growth. Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said the company is seeing “unprecedented internal and external demand for AI compute resources.”

“The investments we’re making in AI are delivering strong growth as evid...