Alphabet just reported its first negative free cash flow quarter since going public in 2004. Collectively, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle have guided for more than $725 billion in capital expenditure for 2026. The cash flow crunch is realAlphabet posted negative free cash flow of roughly $5.9 billion in Q2 2026, driven by $44.9 billion in quarterly capex alone. A company that generated positive free cash flow every single quarter for 22 years just posted a nearly $6 billion deficit. The key metric to watch going forward is the ratio of capex to operating cash flow.