Daily newsletter · Fri 30 Oct 2026
Alphabet had its worst day since listing in 2004, and Amazon's cash flow sank further below zero
Alphabet shares closed at US$283.82 on Thursday, the day after its results. The fall erased about US$500 billion, the second-largest one-day loss for any US-listed company. Only Nvidia, which shed US$593 billion in January 2025, has lost more.
The problem is the cash. Free cash flow, the money left after running the business and paying for equipment, was negative US$9.1 billion in the September quarter. It was Alphabet's second quarter in a row below zero.
Chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi said spending would rise significantly again in 2027. She gave no number. Alphabet already expects to spend between US$195 billion and US$205 billion this year.
Amazon reported after Thursday's close and hit the same nerve. AWS, its cloud business, grew 39%, the fastest pace in nearly five years. But free cash flow over the past 12 months was an outflow of US$42.4 billion, against an inflow of US$14.8 billion a year earlier.
Amazon's earnings and advertising sales also came in below forecasts. The shares fell as much as 10% in late trading before recovering some ground.
our read is that the market has stopped paying for cloud growth on its own. Both companies grew their cloud businesses faster than forecast, and both are spending faster still. Neither said on Thursday when that spending turns back into cash.
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