Hyperscaler capex expectations surge to $789B for 2026

Six months ago, Wall Street expected the biggest cloud companies on Earth to spend around $460 billion on infrastructure in 2026. That number has now ballooned to $789 billion, a 71% revision that reflects just how aggressively Big Tech is betting on artificial intelligence. The numbers behind the spending spree Goldman Sachs now estimates hyperscaler capex at roughly $800 billion for 2026, placing the bank’s projection squarely in the upper range of current analyst consensus between $700 billion and $800 billion. CreditSights revised its own estimates from approximately $600 to $620 billion up to $750 billion. That revision alone represents about 67% year-over-year growth. The individual company breakdowns tell an even more striking story. Amazon is expected to lead the pack with around $200 billion in single-year capital expenditure for 2026. Alphabet’s capex guidance has been revised upward multiple times, landing in a range of $175 billion to $205 billion. Meta projects spending between $115 billion and $145 billion. What’s driving the surge The demand signals are hard to argue with. Alphabet’s cloud backlog has soared past $460 billion, later climbing to $514 billion, suggesti...