Meta and Microsoft face renewed AI spending scrutiny ahead of July 29 earnings

6:30 AM · July 28, 2026

Bloomberg reported on July 24, 2026 that Meta and Microsoft are heading into their July 29 earnings reports under renewed investor scrutiny over AI capital spending, days after Alphabet's decision to raise its own 2026 capex guidance triggered one of the sharpest single day selloffs among major tech stocks in over a year. Meta has told investors to expect full year 2026 capital spending of $125 billion to $145 billion, up from earlier guidance of $115 billion to $135 billion, with the bulk of the increase tied to its ongoing AI data center buildout, while Wall Street models Microsoft's capital expenditure nearly tripling from about $65 billion in fiscal 2025 toward roughly $190 billion by fiscal 2027. Analysts expect Meta to report roughly 27 percent revenue growth to about $60 billion for the quarter, but underlying earnings per share growth close to flat, a gap between top line growth and bottom line results that has become the central story of this earnings season for AI heavy tech companies. For Microsoft, the key swing factor is whether Azure cloud growth, guided at 39 to 40 percent, holds up against a roughly 36 percent bar investors are watching for, and whether the company signals any softening in its future capital spending plans. Both companies' results will be read as an early referendum on whether investors are still willing to reward aggressive AI infrastructure spending or, as with Alphabet, will punish it even when the underlying growth numbers look strong.