AI infrastructure capex and the supplier transmission chain
Analyst view
The buildout is widening, but disclosure quality is uneven across the stack.
- All four buyers publicly committed to NVIDIA Blackwell adoption or deployment.
- Arista directly quantifies Microsoft and Meta as major end customers.
- TSMC HPC, memory margins, and power/cooling backlog all accelerated.
- Capex is broader than AI and may not map one-for-one to supplier revenue.
- Custom accelerators can shift value between GPU and ASIC suppliers.
- Backlog cancellations, delivery bottlenecks or mix can weaken conversion and margins.
Capex trace
Cash additions or purchases of property and equipment. Fiscal calendars and issuer definitions are preserved.
Maximum scale is $130bn. Microsoft fiscal years end June; others are calendar years. Meta includes finance-lease principal. Amazon is net of proceeds and incentives.
Microsoft · FY2026 actual
Full fiscal year; +79.6% year over year.
Alphabet · H1 2026 actual
Six months; TTM through Q2 was $132.4bn.
Amazon · TTM Q2 2026
Trailing-twelve-month net PPE purchases.
Meta · H1 / FY2026
Six-month actual / full-year company guidance.
Evidence-backed relationship map
Only named relationships are shown. An upstream edge is not a claim that the upstream vendor bills every hyperscaler directly.
BUYER → PLATFORM / DIRECT SUPPLIER
BUYER → CUSTOM SILICON / POWER
PLATFORM → UPSTREAM ENABLER
Supplier revenue and profitability
Sort any column. Figures preserve issuer currency; trends should be read within company, not summed across companies.
| Supplier | Layer | 2023 / FY24 revenue | 2025 / FY26 revenue | Start op margin | End op margin | Relevant KPI | Trail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA USD bn · FY2024–FY2026 | GPUnetworking | $60.9 | $215.9 | 54.1% | 60.4% | FY2026 Data Center $193.7bn | |
| TSMC TWD tn · 2023–2025 | foundry | NT$2.162 | NT$3.809 | 42.6% | 50.8% | 2025 HPC NT$2.193tn (+48%) | |
| SK hynix KRW tn · 2023–2025 | memory | ₩32.8 | ₩97.1 | −24.0% | 49.0% | 2025 HBM revenue more than doubled | |
| Micron USD bn · FY2023–FY2025 | memory | $15.5 | $37.4 | −37.0% | 26.1% | Q3 FY26 cloud + core DC $25.3bn | |
| Broadcom USD bn · FY2023–FY2025 | custom siliconnetworking | $35.8 | $63.9 | 45.2% | 39.9% | Q3 FY26 AI semis $16.7bn (+221%) | |
| Arista Networks USD bn · 2023–2025 | networking | $5.9 | $9.0 | 38.5% | 42.8% | Microsoft + Meta = 35% of 2024 revenue | |
| Eaton USD bn · Electrical Americas | powerUPS | $10.1 | $13.3 | 26.5% | 29.9% | 2025 backlog $13.2bn; Q2 orders +41% | |
| Vertiv USD bn · 2023–2025 | powercooling | $6.9 | $10.2 | 12.7% | 17.9% | 2025 backlog $15.0bn (+109%) |
Broadcom's FY2024 GAAP margin reflects acquisition-related costs after VMware. Eaton's annual panel is a segment view and is not directly comparable to consolidated margins. NVIDIA's series begins FY2024 because that fiscal year ended in January 2024 and provides the three latest complete annual periods.
Latest momentum
Most recent reported quarter by the as-of date. These are not synchronized periods and should not be treated as a ranking.
| Supplier | Period | Revenue | YoY growth | Profitability | Order / AI indicator | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | Q2 FY2027 | $96.2bn | +106% | 75.0% GAAP gross margin | Data Center $89.0bn (+117%) | |
| TSMC | Q2 2026 | US$40.2bn | +33.7% USD | 60.3% operating margin | 2nm = 3% of wafer revenue | |
| SK hynix | Q2 2026 prelim. | ₩79.3tn | +257% | 76% operating margin | HBM4 mass shipments began | |
| Micron | Q3 FY2026 | $41.5bn | +346% | 80.4% GAAP operating margin | Cloud + core DC $25.3bn | |
| Broadcom | Q3 FY2026 | $29.6bn | +86% | 53.9% GAAP operating margin | AI semis $16.7bn; Q4 guide $21.7bn | |
| Arista | Q2 2026 | $3.0bn | +37.7% | 45.4% GAAP operating margin | No backlog disclosed | |
| Eaton | Q2 2026 | $8.5bn company | +21% | 23.1% segment margin | Electrical Americas orders +41%; Electrical backlog +43% | |
| Vertiv | Q2 2026 | $3.3bn | +24% | 19.5% GAAP; 22.6% adjusted op margin | 2025 year-end backlog $15.0bn |
Value flow: four lenses, no false total
The same physical deployment appears at several layers and on different recognition dates.
1 · Buyer capex
Buildings, servers, networking and other equipment acquired by hyperscalers.
2 · Platform revenue
Accelerators, systems, custom silicon and networking sold into deployments.
3 · Upstream revenue
Foundry and HBM embedded inside the platform products above.
4 · Facility revenue
Power, UPS and cooling supporting the same datacenter load.
Do not sum the eight suppliers' revenue or AI-related KPIs and label the result end-market size. The measures overlap across layers, mix currencies and use different fiscal periods.
Methodology and limitations
- Capex: cash PPE additions or purchases; Meta adds finance-lease principal and Amazon is net of proceeds/incentives.
- Supplier financials: reported GAAP or local GAAP; Eaton uses Electrical Americas for relevance.
- Relationship: both parties must be named by an issuer, filing or regulator.
- Hyperscaler capex includes non-AI infrastructure.
- Named adoption does not disclose supplier revenue concentration.
- Latest quarters differ; SK hynix Q2 2026 was preliminary.
- Backlog and order definitions differ by supplier.
Source drawer
Primary filings and company materials dominate. Search by issuer, topic or source ID.