Alphabet remains the world's dominant digital advertising powerhouse, with a sprawling empire that includes the likes of Google Search, YouTube, and an absolutely giant (and fast-growing) cloud business that spews off an incredible amount of cash flow for investors.
Capital expenditures-capex, meaning the big-ticket purchases that fund the data centers, servers, and power infrastructure undergirding the AI race-is fueling record-high, multi-trillion dollar tech valuations when investors think the spending is warranted. But companies get punished when investors worry they might not see returns that justify hundreds of billions in spending.
