What does capex to depreciation measure?

Capital spending in the period divided by depreciation of property and equipment in the same period. At 1× a company is spending only to replace what wears out; at 5× it is adding capacity five times faster than it is expensing the old. The ratio says nothing about whether the spending will pay, only how far ahead of the expense line it runs.

Why exclude amortization of intangibles?

Amortization of acquired intangibles has nothing to do with data centers. Microsoft and Oracle carry large acquired-intangible charges, so their total D&A would understate how far capex runs ahead of the depreciation of physical equipment. The D&A total is shown separately as reported.

Why does the combined series start in Sep 2024?

A quarter is shown only when all five companies report depreciation of property and equipment separately for it. Microsoft tagged the line only annually before fiscal 2025, so the combined quarterly comparison is clean from then; the fiscal-year table carries the longer record.

When does depreciation catch up?

Depreciation follows capex with a lag set by useful lives, which the companies have been lengthening for servers. The fiscal-year table shows the ratio falling when spending slows and rising when it accelerates; a ratio heading back toward 1× would mean the build was reaching a plateau.

SpendingFilings through October 30, 2026; latest quarter complete for all five: Sep 2026

Depreciation against the build

In the calendar quarter ended Sep 2026, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Oracle spent $230.4 billion on capital equipment and recorded $44.6 billion of depreciation on the equipment they already own, so the build ran at 5.2× the rate at which it is being expensed, against 2.8× in Sep 2024. Oracle is furthest ahead at 9.0×, Microsoft closest at 3.5×.

Sources, method and freshnessFilings through October 30, 2026; latest quarter complete for all five: Sep 2026

depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangibles and purchases of property and equipment from each company’s 10-Q and 10-K filings, fiscal quarters placed in the calendar quarter in which they end.

Cite as The Capex Report, Depreciation against the build, filings through October 30, 2026.

Five hyperscalers, calendar quarter ended Sep 2026

5.2×

Capex to depreciation

Combined capex divided by combined depreciation

Capex to depreciation, Sep 2024: 2.8×; The first quarter all five report depreciation separately
Capital spending, quarter: $230.4B; Combined purchases of property and equipment
Depreciation, quarter: $44.6B; Depreciation of property and equipment, excluding amortization of intangibles
Depreciation and amortization: $52.3B; The total as each company reports it, intangibles included
Property and equipment, net: $1.6T; Carrying value of the assets already built, after depreciation

Spending against depreciation, quarter by quarter

Five hyperscalers combined

Depreciation of property and equipment (bars) and capital spending (line), five hyperscalers combined, by calendar quarter through Sep 2026

$ billion, quarterly

Sep 2026Depreciation of property and equipment $44.6BCapital spending $230.4B

Depreciation of property and equipmentCapital spending

Bars are depreciation of property and equipment; the line is cash capital spending. The gap between them is capacity being added faster than the existing base is expensed. Hover a quarter to read it.

The five in the latest common quarter

Millions of dollars, Sep 2026

Company	Fiscal quarter	Capital spending	Depreciation	Capex to depreciation	D&A as reported	Property and equipment, net	Quarters with depreciation
Oracle	Aug 2026	28,499	3,156	9.0×	3,358	127,845	73 of 75
Alphabet	Sep 2026	51,355	8,369	6.1×	8,744	372,827	15 of 51
Amazon	Sep 2026	77,259	15,142	5.1×	20,949	508,862	11 of 79
Meta	Sep 2026	33,942	6,810	5.0×	7,154	253,222	31 of 64
Microsoft	Sep 2026	39,367	11,100	3.5×	12,100	346,844	9 of 78

The combined statement

Millions of dollars

Capital spending, depreciation and amortization of the five hyperscalers combined by calendar quarter, millions of US dollars
Millions of dollars	Dec 2024	Mar 2025	Jun 2025	Sep 2025	Dec 2025	Mar 2026	Jun 2026	Sep 2026
Capital spending	76,309	77,764	97,326	105,773	130,665	148,385	181,543	230,422
Depreciation of property and equipment	23,564	24,186	26,496	29,747	32,877	36,149	39,688	44,577
Capex to depreciation	3.2×	3.2×	3.7×	3.6×	4.0×	4.1×	4.6×	5.2×
Depreciation and amortization, as reported	—	31,622	34,187	37,870	—	44,270	47,962	52,305
Property and equipment, net, as reported	738,381	807,319	896,374	992,547	1,109,023	1,240,099	1,406,015	1,609,600

Capex to depreciation for the combined row is combined capital spending divided by combined depreciation. Property and equipment as reported includes finance-lease assets for filers that present it that way.

What the asset base is made of

Millions of dollars at cost, each company’s latest quarter

Company	Quarter	Servers and network equipment	Buildings and land	Construction in progress	Other classes	Classes combined	Servers and network share	Accumulated depreciation
Alphabet	Sep 2026	282,842	51,101	145,270	7,157	486,370	58.2%	113,543
Amazon	Dec 2025	172,492	155,121	71,745	134,740	534,098	32.3%	177,073
Meta	Sep 2026	133,626	71,987	89,499	19,673	314,785	42.4%	73,267

Gross cost by the classes each company reports in its property and equipment note; buildings and land are shown together, and machinery, leasehold improvements, software and other classes as one remainder. The classes are the filer’s own and are not summed across companies. Microsoft and Oracle do not break out property and equipment by type. Alphabet, Amazon and Meta include finance-lease assets in the reported balance.

The decade, by fiscal year

Capex as a multiple of depreciation, each company’s own fiscal year

Fiscal year ending in	Microsoft	Alphabet	Amazon	Meta	Oracle
2015	1.4×	—	0.9×	2.1×	2.0×
2016	1.7×	—	1.2×	2.8×	1.4×
2017	1.3×	—	1.4×	2.9×	2.0×
2018	1.5×	—	1.1×	3.8×	1.5×
2019	1.4×	—	1.1×	2.9×	1.4×
2020	1.4×	—	2.5×	2.4×	1.1×
2021	2.2×	2.4×	2.7×	2.5×	1.4×
2022	1.9×	2.3×	2.6×	3.7×	2.3×
2023	2.6×	2.7×	1.7×	2.5×	3.4×
2024	2.9×	3.4×	2.6×	2.4×	2.2×
2025	2.9×	4.3×	3.1×	3.9×	5.5×
2026	3.4×	—	—	—	7.3×

Fiscal years as filed, placed in the calendar year in which they end; Microsoft’s ends in June and Oracle’s in May. A dash means the year’s 10-K did not report depreciation of property and equipment separately.

Questions this page answers

What does capex to depreciation measure?: Capital spending in the period divided by depreciation of property and equipment in the same period. At 1× a company is spending only to replace what wears out; at 5× it is adding capacity five times faster than it is expensing the old. The ratio says nothing about whether the spending will pay, only how far ahead of the expense line it runs.
Why exclude amortization of intangibles?: Amortization of acquired intangibles has nothing to do with data centers. Microsoft and Oracle carry large acquired-intangible charges, so their total D&A would understate how far capex runs ahead of the depreciation of physical equipment. The D&A total is shown separately as reported.
Why does the combined series start in Sep 2024?: A quarter is shown only when all five companies report depreciation of property and equipment separately for it. Microsoft tagged the line only annually before fiscal 2025, so the combined quarterly comparison is clean from then; the fiscal-year table carries the longer record.
When does depreciation catch up?: Depreciation follows capex with a lag set by useful lives, which the companies have been lengthening for servers. The fiscal-year table shows the ratio falling when spending slows and rising when it accelerates; a ratio heading back toward 1× would mean the build was reaching a plateau.