GoKawiil(L-R) Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk arrive for the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025.
When Alphabet and Tesla kicked off tech earnings season on Wednesday, one theme became immediately clear: AI spending is under a microscope.
Both companies reported negative free cash flow for the latest quarter and told investors to prepare for higher capital expenditures. They both also reported better-than-expected revenue, but that wasn't enough to prevent an after-market selloff, with Tesla shares sliding 4% and Alphabet down more than 3%.
It's a potentially ominous sign for the tech industry, particularly the other megacaps, which are mostly set to report quarterly results next week. Meta and Microsoft are scheduled to report next Wednesday, followed a day later by Amazon and Apple .
Much of the AI boom to date has been fueled by historic levels of infrastructure spending among a small crop of companies, including hefty investments into model developers OpenAI and Anthropic. But the recent emergence of cheaper open-source models, largely out of China, along with signs that corporate America is getting more frugal when it comes to spending on AI services, has raised concerns about the future returns on investment.
Heading into Wednesday's reports, Alphabet's stock was already on pace for its third straight monthly decline after surging in April, while Tesla shares were down 11% in July and 17% for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has dropped about 5% since reaching a record in early June.
While Alphabet and Tesla are both spending at unprecedented levels, their numbers vary dramatically.
Google's parent company forecast capex for this year of $195 billion to $205 billion and warned of higher numbers in 2027. Prior guidance was for spending of $180 billion to $190 billion. At the top end of the new range, Alphabet could be the biggest spender in tech this year, as Amazon's latest guidance was for more than $200 billion, though that number may increase when the company reports results next week.