When it comes to the AI hyperscalers and financing the math ain’t mathing: https://t.co/YpQO7viLtV
— QE Infinity (@StealthQE4) August 12, 2026
The AI boom made 7 companies absurdly profitable. Everyone else is stuck exactly where they started.
Profit margins for the 7 biggest tech names have climbed to roughly 25%. The other 493 companies in the S&P 500 are sitting near 10%, the same margin they ran a decade ago. Nearly 90% of the index grew sales last quarter, but only about half grew margins.
All that AI spending was supposed to make corporate America leaner. So far it made Big Tech richer and left everyone else running in place. A market this concentrated has a long way to fall if that gap never closes.
The AI boom made 7 companies absurdly profitable. Everyone else is stuck exactly where they started.
Profit margins for the 7 biggest tech names have climbed to roughly 25%. The other 493 companies in the S&P 500 are sitting near 10%, the same margin they ran a decade ago.… pic.twitter.com/9VbQNHHxzi
— Kurt S. Altrichter, CRPS® (@kurtsaltrichter) August 11, 2026
AI CAPEX is estimated to grow at a compounded annual rate of 16% until 2031, as per Goldman Sachs
32% in 2027, 21% in 2028, then at a slower pace pic.twitter.com/I5WnDLvKyX
— BraVoCycles Newsletter (@BraVoCycles) August 11, 2026
We are witnessing the largest CapEx spending spree in history. Hyperscalers have committed a record $2.6 trillion in future spending across data center leases and equipment purchases
This includes leases for data centers and power infrastructure that have not yet commenced, and existing purchase contracts for equipment and services.
These obligations do not appear on company balance sheets and are disclosed only in limited accounting footnotes, despite their enormous size and duration.
Alphabet has the largest total, with $811 billion in purchase commitments and $85 billion in leases not yet commenced, bringing its combined obligations to ~$896 billion.
By contrast, Oracle has committed $32 billion to purchases, but $260 billion to leases that have not yet commenced, the largest lease obligation among the group, bringing its total to ~$292 billion.
h/t RobertBartus