Credit: Tyler Prahm on Unsplash Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Oracle handed 9.3% of the cash their businesses made back to shareholders. That covers the first nine months of 2026. That is the smallest share in at least 15 years, down from 27.4% a year earlier. The figures come from a Reuters analysis of LSEG data and company reports by Patturaja Murugaboopathy.
The five companies’ operating cash flow rose 29% to a record $542.9bn. Their capital spending doubled to $556.9bn. It topped the cash they made for the first time in data going back to 2011. Buybacks go first That left a combined free cash flow deficit of $14bn, against a surplus of $143.5bn a year earlier.
Big Tech buybacks took the hit. They fell 83% to $13.6bn, from $81.8bn. Dividends rose to $37bn from $33.9bn. Alphabet and Meta have not bought back a share this year.
In the first nine months of 2025, they bought back $66.5bn. Amazon pays no dividend and has not bought back shares since 2022. Microsoft made almost all of the remaining buybacks. It cut them to $4.4bn in the September quarter, from $5.7bn.
With free cash flow negative, the $50.6bn paid out came from cash reserves, borrowing or share sales, Reuters found. Amazon raised $48.1bn of long-term debt in the third quarter. Alphabet raised about $12.4bn from share sales and $29bn from debt. Why buybacks matter to investors Buybacks spread profits across fewer shares, which lifts earnings per share even when profits do not grow.
Alphabet cut its share count by 9.5% between the end of 2020 and 2025, ING said. That alone added about 2% a year to its earnings per share. “For the last 15 years, companies increasingly returned excess capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends,” said Ehren Stanhope, co-head of investment management at Franklin Templeton. “The current regime may increasingly be characterized by greater equity and debt issuance, a request of capital from investors,” he said. The companies say the spending will pay off. Amazon’s Andy Jassy told analysts on Thursday that he sees a clear line of sight to attractive returns, and that Amazon will spend more in 2027.
Oracle has set a free cash flow target of $30bn by 2029. Meanwhile the five hold more than $3tn in commitments for the AI build-out, and Amazon can now borrow up to $80bn against the AI hardware it buys. Get the TNW newsletter ✕ Close Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
