Microsoft and Meta Earnings Put a Focus on Payoffs From AI Spending

Investors wondering about payoffs from the pile of cash being spent on artificial intelligence should get some clues when Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. post earnings after the close Wednesday.

The tech giants are the first of Corporate America’s four biggest AI spenders to report, with results from Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. due next week. This year alone, the quartet is expected to have about $505 billion in combined capital expenditures, up from roughly $366 billion estimated for 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As Wall Street grows increasingly concerned about the ability to generate profits from all this AI spending, the expenses are starting to be seen as potential risks for the high rollers.