Google and Microsoft's Q3 capital expenditure falls short of estimates, raising concerns about AI build-out costs and delays. Microsoft reduced its full-year capex forecast to $170 billion from $175 billion, while Google's Alphabet maintained guidance at $195 billion to $205 billion. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood attributed some delays to third-party GPU providers, pushing capacity availability to H1 2027. Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi noted outside computing power came online late in Q3. These figures, along with negative free cash flow reported by Alphabet and Meta, have led to drops in shares of neoclouds like CoreWeave, Nebius, IREN, and Oracle, and Alphabet's shares tumbled about 10% in extended trading. Analysts warn that 80% of neocloud companies could be absorbed or cease operations by 2030 due to rising interest rates and debt concerns. Despite the Q3 shortfall, Microsoft's report was cheered by investors as the company beat earnings and revenue estimates, driven by 48% sales growth in its Azure cloud business.