Amazon raised quarterly property and equipment spending from $54.2 billion to $77.3 billion between the June and September quarters, yet AWS revenue growth rose only from 37% to 39.3%. Over the same two quarters, Google Cloud growth jumped from 82% to 103% on spending of $44.9 billion to $51.4 billion, and Azure growth rose from 42% to 48% on $35.8 billion to $39.4 billion. The September-quarter results, covered in the October 29 SI News roundup’s Microsoft earnings story, show the biggest spender getting the smallest growth payoff so far.
Sources & Notes
- Original story: Google Unveils Gemini 4 Carbon Frontier Model | Microsoft Azure Jumps 48% in Earnings Beat | New York Restricts AI Companions for Minors
- Data sources: Microsoft (2026). Microsoft Azure revenue surges 48% to $33.2B; Alphabet (2026). GOOGL Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates, Cloud & Search Aid Top-Line Growth; Amazon (2026). Amazon Falls About 7% After Hours as $77 Billion of Quarterly Capex Drives Free Cash Flow to Minus $42 Billion
- Notes: Quarters are calendar quarters ended 2026-06-30 (Jun) and 2026-09-30 (Sep); for Microsoft these are fiscal Q4 2026 and fiscal Q1 2027. Spending is purchases of / cash paid for property and equipment as reported in each company’s cash-flow statement, so it excludes Microsoft’s headline $45.2 billion September-quarter figure that includes finance leases. Azure’s June growth uses the restated 42% (originally reported 43%) so it is like-for-like with the 48% September figure on Microsoft’s new segment basis. Google Cloud’s 103% includes TPU system sales, first booked in the June quarter. Growth rates are year-over-year as reported by each company.
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