Amazon put $77.3 billion into property and equipment in one quarter. With Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet: $201.9 billion, against $175.5 billion of operating cash.

Every figure below was read from the companies' own filings on sec.gov and is cited with its accession: Amazon's third-quarter release, furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K on 29 October, and its second-quarter 10-Q; Meta's third-quarter 8-K and 10-Q; Microsoft's 10-Q for its first fiscal quarter of 2027; and Alphabet's third-quarter 10-Q, filed on 29 October. Outlook figures are the companies' own and are labelled as company guidance. We show no analyst estimates, no consensus and no share prices, because none of them is filed, and nothing from the earnings calls, which are not filings either. Sums, differences and ratios are our arithmetic on filed values and are marked (Ours.) Research, not investment advice.

On Wednesday we put nine filed lines on the table before Amazon $AMZN reported (the preview). Amazon reported on Thursday 29 October. We checked EDGAR at 04:33 UTC on 30 October. Amazon has filed its results on Form 8-K (accession 0001018724-26-000038): the release is Exhibit 99.1 and a non-GAAP note is Exhibit 99.2. Its 10-Q for the quarter to 30 September is not on EDGAR yet.

So Amazon can be read this morning only as far as the release goes. Six of Wednesday's nine lines have an answer in it. Three are 10-Q lines and wait.

Then the table this series has been building towards. All four large cloud spenders have now filed their September quarters. Put the cash lines side by side and you no longer need anyone's adjective for the total: you can add it up yourself.

1. AWS: $46.0 billion of revenue at a 38.7% margin

From the release's segment table (0001018724-26-000038): AWS net sales were $45,984 million in the third quarter, against $33,006 million a year earlier, and AWS operating income was $17,773 million, against $11,434 million. (Ours: revenue up 39.3%, operating income up 55.4%, operating margin 38.7%.) The supplemental table gives growth excluding currency of 39%, after 37% in the second quarter, and an operating margin of 38.7%, after 39.4%.

Trailing-twelve-month AWS sales were $161,382 million, against $148,404 million at 30 June.

Wednesday's check was AWS growth against 37% and the margin against 39.4%. Growth was 39%; the margin was 0.7 points lower. (Ours.)

2. The guide ranges against the filed results

The second-quarter release set company guidance for the quarter to 30 September. The third-quarter release gives the results:

Net sales rose 12%, or 13% excluding a $0.9 billion currency effect. The release repeats the Prime Day sentence: "Excluding this shift, third quarter year-over-year growth would have been approximately 400 basis points higher." The operating margin was 13.9%, against 9.7% a year earlier.

The new guide, for the fourth quarter: net sales "between $240.0 billion and $247.0 billion, or to grow between 12% and 16%", and operating income "between $28.5 billion and $33.5 billion, compared with $25.0 billion in fourth quarter 2025". It again assumes "no impact from energy derivative contract remeasurements".

3. $77.3 billion of property and equipment in one quarter, and the first filed capex figure

The release's cash flow statement: purchases of property and equipment were $77,259 million in the third quarter, against $35,095 million a year earlier and $54,208 million in the second quarter (Q2 10-Q 0001018724-26-000026). (Ours: up 120.1% on the year and 42.5% on the quarter.) Nine months: $175,670 million. Twelve months: $215,192 million.

On Wednesday we wrote that no forward sentence in the 10-Q or the release put an amount on capex. This release does: "We continue to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures to be approximately $220 billion." The word "continue" points to an earlier figure. We did not find one in the second-quarter release or 10-Q.

The Q2 10-Q gave "cash capital expenditures" of "$31.4 billion and $53.1 billion during Q2 2025 and Q2 2026". The second figure is purchases net of proceeds and incentives. (Ours: $54,208 million less $1,132 million is $53,076 million.) On that basis the nine months were $175,670 million less $3,482 million of proceeds and incentives, or $172,188 million. (Ours.) (Ours: $220 billion less $172.2 billion leaves about $47.8 billion for the fourth quarter, against $75.9 billion net in the third. That assumes the guide uses the same net basis, which the release does not state.)

4. Free cash flow: minus $42.4 billion over twelve months

The supplemental table, trailing twelve months at 30 September: operating cash flow of $168,300 million, less purchases net of proceeds and incentives of $210,657 million, gives free cash flow of $(42,357) million. At 30 June it was $(7,604) million; a year earlier, $14,788 million.

The release gives the cause: "a year-over-year increase of $94.8 billion in purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives. This increase primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence." (Ours: the quarter alone was $42,422 million of operating cash less $77,259 million of purchases plus $1,381 million of proceeds, or $(33,456) million.)

Wednesday's check was whether the trailing figure would fall further below zero. It fell by $34.8 billion. (Ours.)

5. The $496 billion and the two AI contracts: not in the release

The release does not give remaining performance obligations, the 6.4-year life or a size for the OpenAI and Anthropic expansions. We searched Exhibit 99.1. It names OpenAI among companies that "Signed new AWS agreements" since the last release, alongside Meta, NVIDIA, Salesforce and Oracle, with no amounts. The $496 billion at 30 June (0001018724-26-000026) is still the latest filed figure.

6. Investments and other income

The release's investing section has one line that moved: "Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, non-marketable investments, and other, net" was $23,986 million in the quarter, against $786 million a year earlier. Wednesday's post noted the 10-Q sentence that Amazon "invested the remaining $21.3 billion" in OpenAI after 30 June. The release does not split the $24.0 billion, so that tie waits for the 10-Q.

Other income was $(703) million in the quarter, against $10,186 million a year earlier. Net income was $20,685 million; the release says the fall from $21,187 million "is driven primarily by pre-tax gains of $9.5 billion in third quarter 2025 included in non-operating income (expense) from our investments in Anthropic." Other assets were $358,775 million at 30 September, against $122,607 million at 31 December.

7. Debt: $173.1 billion on the balance sheet

Long-term debt was $173,125 million at 30 September, against $65,648 million at 31 December. (Ours: up $107.5 billion in nine months.) Proceeds from long-term debt were $48,102 million in the quarter and $115,100 million over nine months. Interest expense was $1,691 million, against $538 million. The release does not list the issues. The one debt 8-K on file for the quarter is the sterling notes of 14 September (0001104659-26-107526), £4.25 billion of principal in four tranches.

The four capex lines, as filed this month

(Ours: the four spent $201.9 billion in the quarter, up 107.6% on $97.3 billion a year earlier, and $26.4 billion more than their combined operating cash flow.) Microsoft calls its line "additions to property and equipment"; the other three call it "purchases". Microsoft's quarter is its fiscal first quarter; all four end on 30 September.

Two notes on the sources. Alphabet's 10-Q gives only nine-month cash flows, so its quarter is nine months less the half in its Q2 10-Q (0001652044-26-000071): $131,953 million less $80,598 million of purchases, and $127,149 million less $84,859 million of operating cash. (Ours: both tie to the release figures in yesterday's post.) Meta's 10-Q (0001628280-26-066773) is also nine-month only; its nine-month purchases of $83,055 million less the half's $49,113 million in the Q2 10-Q (0001628280-26-050705) give the same $33,942 million. (Ours.)

What each has filed about the year ahead:

• Meta: "2026 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $135-145 billion" (0001628280-26-066700). Principal payments on finance leases were $964 million in the quarter.
• Microsoft: no filed capex figure for the December quarter or for FY2027, as of yesterday's post.
• Alphabet: the new 10-Q repeats "In 2026, we expect to significantly increase, relative to 2025, our investment in our technical infrastructure", with no number. It gives nine-month spend: "$63.6 billion and $132.0 billion on capital expenditures".
• Amazon: "approximately $220 billion" of cash capital expenditures for 2026.

What the capex line does not show

Purchases are cash that has gone out. Two other lines record what is signed but not yet spent or earned. Both sit in the 10-Qs, not the releases.

Alphabet's 10-Q landed after yesterday's post. Its revenue backlog was $567.7 billion, "of which $560.8 billion related to Google Cloud", and it expects "to recognize just over 55%" in 24 months. At 30 June: $519.5 billion. Its leases not yet commenced were $130.5 billion, against $85.2 billion. (Ours: up $48.2 billion and $45.3 billion in one quarter.) Meta's leases not yet commenced were about $278.99 billion at 30 June (0001628280-26-050705). (Ours: up $76.74 billion.)

The money to pay for it is being raised in the open. On 29 October Meta filed an 8-K (0001193125-26-438017) for 250,000,000 depositary shares, each a 1/20th interest in a share of "6.50% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, liquidation preference $1,000.00 per share" (Ours: $12.5 billion of liquidation preference), and for forward sale agreements on 40,000,000 Class A shares.

The demand side of this spending, the customers renting the capacity, is in our CoreWeave post.

What the Amazon 10-Q has to answer

1. Remaining performance obligations against about $496 billion, and the 6.4-year life.
2. Leases not yet commenced against $137.2 billion, and purchase obligations against $130.1 billion.
3. How much of the $24.0 billion investing line was OpenAI, and any draw on the Anthropic facility.
4. A definition of the "cash capital expenditures" that the $220 billion guide uses.

Run it yourself

Open /filings/AMZN, take the 8-K of 29 October and go to the cash flow statement in Exhibit 99.1: purchases of property and equipment are the first investing line. Then the supplemental table for the trailing free cash flow. When the 10-Q lands, search it for "commitments not yet recognized".

The first step is small: write down the four lines above, the numbers you will hold Amazon's 10-Q to. Our Thesis Monitor reads each new filing against what you wrote and tells you which of them moved. If you work inside an agent, the same filings are on the EvidInvest MCP server. It is free to start, credit packs from $10, and there is no subscription.

Four companies, one quarter, $201.9 billion of property and equipment. The cash line is filed; the commitments behind it are in the notes.

Sources. Amazon.com, Inc. Form 8-K of 29 October 2026, Exhibit 99.1 (third-quarter release and supplemental tables) and Exhibit 99.2 (non-GAAP measures): accession 0001018724-26-000038 (sec.gov). Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026: 0001018724-26-000026 (sec.gov). Form 8-K of 30 July 2026, Exhibit 99.1: 0001018724-26-000024. Form 8-K of 14 September 2026 (sterling notes): 0001104659-26-107526. Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 8-K of 21 October 2026, Exhibit 99.1: 0001628280-26-066700; Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 September 2026: 0001628280-26-066773; Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026: 0001628280-26-050705; Form 8-K of 29 October 2026 (preferred stock and forward sale): 0001193125-26-438017. Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 September 2026: 0001193125-26-436133. Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 September 2026: 0001652044-26-000084 (sec.gov); Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026: 0001652044-26-000071. EDGAR was checked at 04:33 UTC on 30 October 2026; Amazon's third-quarter 10-Q had not been filed. No analyst estimate, consensus figure, share price, price target or call remark appears on this page. Sums, differences and ratios are arithmetic on those filed values, labelled as ours where they appear. Research, not investment advice.