Big Tech raised a net US$272bn in nine months; buybacks fell 83%

01The line: from paying out to raising

Net cash from financing activities is the cash a company raised from lenders and shareholders minus what it paid back to them in repayments, dividends and buybacks. For Alphabet, Amazon and Meta together it was minus US$39.7bn in the first quarter of 2025. It turned positive in the last quarter of 2025 and was plus US$71.6bn in the quarter to 30 September 2026.¹⁶ Microsoft stayed on the paying side in every quarter, at minus US$11bn to US$18bn.¹⁶

Buybacks. In the first nine months of 2025 the four spent US$81.0bn buying back their own shares: Alphabet US$39.8bn, Meta US$26.2bn, Microsoft US$15.0bn. In the same months of 2026 the figure was US$13.6bn, all of it Microsoft’s.¹⁶¹⁰⁸

Debt. Their long-term debt (the part not due within a year) went from US$206.4bn at the end of 2025 to US$410.2bn on 30 September: Amazon from US$65.6bn to US$173.1bn, Alphabet from US$46.5bn to US$125.1bn, Meta from US$58.7bn to US$80.9bn. Microsoft’s fell, from US$35.4bn to US$31.1bn, before the October bond.¹⁶

02How each one paid for the build

Amazon spent US$175.7bn on property and equipment in the nine months and its free cash flow over twelve months was an outflow of US$42.4bn; its release says the rise in spending “primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence”.¹⁴ It borrowed a net US$49.5bn in the September quarter alone, including a US$25bn bond in eight tranches due 2029 to 2066, priced on 7 July, and £4.25bn of sterling notes priced on 9 September.¹²¹³¹⁶

Alphabet announced an US$80bn equity raise on 1 June, including a US$40bn at-the-market programme (shares sold into the market over time) and US$10bn from Berkshire Hathaway.¹¹ In the nine months it raised US$61.9bn from common and mandatory convertible preferred shares, US$12.4bn of it in the September quarter, and borrowed a net US$76.3bn.¹⁰ That includes a US$25bn bond in ten tranches due 2028 to 2066, priced on 6 August.⁹

Meta borrowed US$24.9bn in the second quarter.¹⁶ On 26 October it announced about US$35bn of underwritten share offerings and a planned US$60bn at-the-market programme, the “$95 billion” in the coverage.⁵¹⁷ The common-stock part was raised to US$25.0bn (40 million shares at US$625, sold through forward agreements that Meta settles by 19 November 2027), beside US$12.5bn of 6.50% mandatory convertible preferred; both settled on 29 October.⁶⁷ Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom indicated interest in up to US$5.0bn of the shares. Meta says it will fund its investment through “a balanced mix of operating cash flow, investment-grade debt, strategic partnerships, and equity capital”.⁵ Its third-quarter capex was US$33.94bn and its free cash flow minus US$2.12bn.⁸

Microsoft priced US$25bn of notes in ten tranches due 2028 to 2066 on 29 October, settling on 4 November, for “general corporate purposes” that may include capital expenditures.¹² Reuters reported more than US$100bn of orders.⁴ Amy Hood, its finance chief, said on 28 October that Microsoft expects to stay free-cash-flow positive this fiscal year and “will access additional sources of funding when we believe it is attractive to do so”. She guided spending of “over $50 billion” in the current quarter and about US$170bn for calendar 2026, down from about US$175bn.³

Oracle, whose quarters end a month earlier, completed a US$20bn at-the-market share sale in its quarter to 31 August. At its investor day on 28 October it committed to limit new capital raised through its fiscal 2030 to another US$20bn, “$10 billion in equity and $10 billion in gross debt”, excluding refinancing.¹⁵

The price of the debt. The 40-year tranches pay 6.350% for Microsoft (rated Aaa/AAA), 6.500% for Alphabet (Aa2/AA+) and 6.250% for Amazon (A1/AA).¹⁹¹² Meta is rated Aa3/AA-.⁵

03What it means for a buyer, and what to watch

Analysts read the same filings two ways, and the coverage reports both. Ben Wood of CCS Insight said Meta’s sale “reflects the eye-watering levels of investment required to keep up in the AI arms race”; Meta’s shares were down 1.6% in morning trading after the announcement, CNBC reported.¹⁷ The companies answer with their own numbers: Meta cites US$97bn of operating cash in nine months, and Hood said Microsoft is “confident” in “the return on every dollar of CapEx we’re spending”.⁵³

What to watch. Microsoft’s notes settle on 4 November.¹ Meta’s at-the-market programme is not expected to start until the first quarter of 2027, after its new Class C shares begin trading, and its forward sales settle by 19 November 2027.⁵⁶ The December-quarter filings, from late January, will show the October deals and whether any buybacks resume. The line in the first chart is the one to follow: if operating cash catches up with capex, it turns back toward zero.