The Magnificent 7 – Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla – ended their latest fiscal year with an unmistakable theme: escalating R&D intensity and capital spending aligned around artificial intelligence (AI), even as cash balances normalise post-Covid-19 pandemic.
The group collectively generated over $2,08-trillion in revenue – up about 14% YoY – underscoring the resilience of the US tech complex amid rate headwinds and slowing global demand, says research group GlobalData.
AI drives divergent top-line momentum
Nvidia led the YoY growth with a 114% surge to $130,5-billion, reflecting extraordinary GPU demand driven by hyperscale AI infrastructure buildouts across cloud providers. In the process, it became the first publicly traded company to attain a market capitalisation of approximately $5-trillion in October 2025.
Amazon’s revenue climbed 11% to $638-billion, propelled by AWS’s resurgence and retail efficiency. Meta and Microsoft posted robust gains of 22% and 15% respectively, both benefiting from cloud and AI monetisation. Alphabet’s 14% growth reaffirmed its search dominance and cloud expansion, while Apple’s more modest 6% rise to $416-billion reflected saturation in iPhone sales offset by services growth. Tesla’s top line flattened at $97,7-billion, signaling EV market maturity and intensifying price competition.
Murthy Grandhi, company profiles analyst at GlobalData, comments: “R&D intensity hit record highs across most companies. Amazon led with $88,5-billion, reflecting AI integration across retail, logistics, and AWS. Alphabet followed at $48,8-billion, largely directed towards Gemini and data-centre optimisation. Meta’s $43,6-billion R&D outlay – up 19% YoY – underscored its pivot to AI and mixed-reality platforms even as Reality Labs’ losses persist.
“Microsoft’s $32,5-billion spend, coupled with its deep OpenAI partnership, shows disciplined scaling in generative AI integration across Azure and Office ecosystems,” says Grandhi. “Apple, traditionally conservative in disclosure, expanded R&D by 10% to $34,6-billion, with focus areas including custom silicon, on-device AI, and mixed-reality headsets. Nvidia’s R&D reached $12,9-billion, scaling alongside its data-centre roadmap. Tesla’s R&D rose modestly to $4,5-billion, with focus shifting from vehicle development to AI-driven autonomous systems.”
Capex priorities shift to data centres and compute infrastructure
Capital expenditure across the Magnificent 7 climbed sharply, totalling nearly $265-billion in latest fiscal year end and up 27% from previous years. The surge was concentrated in Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet – each ramping data centre and networking investments to meet AI training demand.
Amazon led at $83-billion, Microsoft at $64,6-billion, and Alphabet at $52,5-billion. Meta’s $37-billion capex outlay signaled heavy data centre and server investments underpinning its AI roadmap. Tesla’s $11,3-billion reflected Gigafactory expansion and Dojo compute build-out, while Apple maintained moderate capital discipline at $12,7-billion reflecting product manufacturing optimisation. Nvidia, despite its small base, tripled capex to $3,2-billion, signaling long-term supply-chain localisation.
Cash discipline amid higher spend
Cash and equivalents balances for the group totaled $238-billion in the latest fiscal year, YoY marginally lower as R&D and capex absorbed liquidity. Amazon and Apple led with $78,8-billion and $35,9-billion respectively. Microsoft’s $30,2-billion cash pile remained stable, while Alphabet’s dipped slightly to $23,5-billion amid higher buybacks. Meta’s cash rose modestly to $43,9-billion, supported by ad rebound. Nvidia and Tesla maintained lean liquidity, reflecting reinvestment-driven strategies.
“The Magnificent 7 entered 2025 at an inflection point,” Grandhi says. “The AI infrastructure boom, led by hyperscalers and accelerated compute demand, underpins near-term earnings resilience. Yet valuations increasingly price in aggressive growth assumptions, raising the risk of an AI bubble echo if actual monetisation lags infrastructure spend. The US-China chip and tariff wars are reshaping supply chains and could pressure Nvidia (and Apple) most directly given their hardware dependencies; Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are comparatively better insulated, leveraging software-led AI models.
“Meanwhile, the evolving web of deals around OpenAI – spanning Microsoft’s integration, Apple’s reported partnership for on-device AI, and Alphabet’s competing Gemini suite highlights how ecosystem alliances, not hardware alone, will define competitive moats,” Grandhi adds. “While the Magnificent 7 remain the global growth engine for technology, 2026 will test whether AI-driven efficiency and product innovation can sustain returns as capital intensity and geopolitical risks rise.
“The cycle’s next leg will hinge less on model-training scale and more on AI monetisation depth – a pivot which will separate sustainable leaders from speculative exuberance,” Grandhi says.