AI Investing Glossary
What is hyperscaler capex and why does it matter?
Hyperscaler capex is the capital expenditure of the largest cloud and AI companies: money spent on data centers, chips, networking, and power. It matters because announced capex becomes supplier revenue over the following quarters, so tracking it shows where AI money will land before it appears in any supplier's earnings report.
Why it matters for AI investors
Capex guidance is given publicly on earnings calls, is expensive to walk back, and converts into orders across the whole supply chain, which makes it a harder signal than any amount of AI commentary. Rising guidance with rising 2027 warnings has been the defining feature of this cycle.
Tracked stocks in this layer
The largest names in the Cloud & Hyperscalers category, ranked by market cap:
Market data as of the close on . Prices are end of day, not live.
Related reading
- How to follow smart money with 13F filings · 13F filings show what Buffett, Druckenmiller and 20 other managers own each quarter. How to read one, what it hides, and how to use it without copying blind.
- Hyperscaler capex roundup: September 2026 · Seven AI builders spent $657B on capex over the last four quarters. The table, the 2026 guidance, what changed since the Q2 earnings round, and the power deals behind it.
- What are AI infrastructure stocks? The 12 layers, explained · AI infrastructure stocks are the companies paid to build AI compute: chips, memory, networking, data centers, cooling and power. The 12 layers and the catch.
Frequently asked questions
How do I track hyperscaler capex?
Each company states capital expenditure and forward guidance in its quarterly earnings materials. The Supercycle Buildout Tracker aggregates the current guidance for the major AI buyers with a source link per row and a trailing-twelve-month total, updated as new guidance lands, so the whole picture sits in one table.
Related terms
See how this fits the whole picture in the Start Here guide, or browse the full glossary.