Oracle’s capex was 82.6% of revenue last fiscal year. Free cash flow was -$23.7bn.

That number seemed wrong when I pulled it so I checked it twice. Oracle spent $55.7bn on capex against $67.4bn of revenue, and operating cash flow was $32.0bn. Free cash flow came out at minus $23.7bn. So I pulled the same figures for the rest of big tech, most recent fiscal year from the 10-Ks. Fiscal years don’t line up, Microsoft ends June, Oracle May, Nvidia January, so it’s not a clean same-period comparison. Capex as a share of revenue: Oracle 82.6% Meta 34.7% Microsoft 22.9% Alphabet 22.7% Amazon 18.4% Apple 3.1% Nvidia 2.8% Free cash flow, prior year to most recent: Oracle: -$0.4bn → -$23.7bn Amazon: $32.9bn → $7.7bn Meta: $54.1bn → $46.1bn Microsoft: $74.1bn → $71.6bn Alphabet: $72.8bn → $73.3bn Apple: $108.8bn → $98.8bn Nvidia: $60.9bn → $96.7bn Before anyone says it, yes, obviously the companies spending less keep more cash. That part isn’t interesting. Apple’s decline is buybacks and working capital, they’re spending 3% of revenue. Nvidia genuinely improved and they’re selling the equipment rather than buying it. The part I think is worth looking at is the depreciation lag. Capex to depreciation is 2.9x at Microsoft, 3.2x at Amazon, 3.9x at Meta, 4.3x at Alphabet, 7.3x at Oracle. Depreciation only starts once an asset is placed in service, so the cost of what’s being built right now mostly hasn’t reached the income statement. Current margins are being earned against a cost base that hasn’t caught up yet. When it does, it lands whether revenue follows or not. Meta reports Wednesday and has guided toward $145bn of capex for 2026. Operating cash flow was $115.8bn last year. If that guide holds, free cash flow goes negative unless operating cash grows another 25%. It grew 27% last year so it’s possible, but that’s the bar. Not arguing the spending is wrong. Cloud growth suggests some of it is working. But five of seven saw free cash flow fall or collapse in the most recent year, and the depreciation from this build is still ahead of them. All from the 10-K filings.