A Pershing Square letter dated November 2, 2026 argues that combined capital spending at Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet rose from about $140 billion in 2023 to about $740 billion in 2026, roughly 5.3 times, and that capex now equals an estimated 38% of revenue versus nearly 12% in 2023. The strain on free cash flow is visible, with Meta's free cash flow at negative $2.1 billion in the third quarter. Pershing estimates a gigawatt of AI data center capacity costs $40 billion to $50 billion and generates $15 billion to $20 billion of annual revenue, but that return math depends on its own assumptions about utilization, AI computing prices and chip depreciation. By June 30, Pershing had added 9.8% to its Microsoft stake and 20.1% to Meta, cut Amazon by 25.2% and sold out of Alphabet. On Pershing's estimates, Microsoft trades at 25 times forward earnings, Meta at 22 and Amazon at 26.
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AI investmentdata centersMSFTNVDA
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Related tickers and likely impact
NVDA
▲ Likely positiveNvidia
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Market cap | $5.1T |
| Close on 11/02/2026 | 202.06 |
| Change that session | -1.26% |
MSFT
▲ Likely positiveMicrosoft
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $3.9T |
| Close on 11/02/2026 | 507.12 |
| Change that session | -2.83% |
GOOGL
▲ Likely positiveAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $3.5T |
| Close on 11/02/2026 | 278.99 |
| Change that session | -0.30% |
META
▲ Likely positiveMeta Platforms
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.6T |
| Close on 11/02/2026 | 606.73 |
| Change that session | -1.34% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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