3 Big Tech Stocks We Like and 1 We'd Skip After Earnings

This week’s results made free cash flow, the cash left after capital spending, the scorecard for Big Tech. Alphabet (GOOGL) more than doubled its spending on property and equipment from a year earlier, to $51.36 billion in the September quarter, leaving free cash flow at negative $9.07 billion, and on Thursday its stock had its worst day since its 2004 listing. Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN) are burning cash too, while Microsoft (MSFT) says it will stay cash-positive.

We compared seven tech giants: Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle (ORCL), which are building the data centers; Nvidia (NVDA), which sells them chips; and Apple (AAPL), which mostly isn’t building. We set revenue growth and free cash flow (cash from operations minus capital spending) over the latest four quarters in SEC filings against the forward P/E, Friday’s close over the next 12 months of expected earnings, from CNBC data. Apple, which reports on Monday, 2 November, came out the most expensive for the slowest growth.

We likeNVDANvidia · Semiconductors$204.64−1.2% 1yWe likeMSFTMicrosoft · Systems Software$521.91−3.6% 1yWe likeGOOGLAlphabet · Interactive Media & Services$279.84+1.9% 1yWe'd skipAAPLApple · Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals$344.63+27.8% 1y

3 stocks we like

1. Nvidia (NVDA)

Revenue growth, 12 months to July 2026: 83.4%. Nvidia designs the processors that most AI models are trained and run on.

1. That’s the fastest of the seven, and its operating margin of 65.2% is the widest.
2. Its customers say they’ll keep spending. On Wednesday, Alphabet held its 2026 plan at $195 billion to $205 billion and Microsoft said demand “continues to exceed available supply.” In September, Goldman Sachs forecast that the five biggest US data-center builders would spend about $1.2 trillion on AI infrastructure in 2027.
3. Free cash flow was $127.01 billion over the same 12 months, second only to Apple’s, as Nvidia owns no chip factories.

The price: 25.9 times the past year’s earnings, lower than at the end of any of its last five fiscal years, by our calculation. The stock is about where it was a year ago.

What could go wrong: its customers’ cash. Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon already spend more than they bring in, and if they trim 2027 budgets, Nvidia feels it first. It reports on Tuesday, 17 November.

2. Microsoft (MSFT)

Free cash flow, 12 months to September 2026: $59.96 billion. Microsoft sells Windows, Office, and Azure, its cloud-computing service.

1. It’s the only one of the five data-center builders whose free cash flow was positive in every quarter this year. Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood expects it “to continue to remain free cash flow positive” through June 2027.
2. Azure revenue grew 48% from a year earlier in the September quarter, faster than Microsoft had forecast, even though some outside data-center capacity arrived late.
3. Its commercial backlog, signed contracts not yet booked as revenue, rose 73% from a year earlier to $677 billion.

The price: 26.5 times forward earnings, second only to Apple among the seven, which we think is fair for the widest operating margin after Nvidia’s.

What could go wrong: more delays. Hood said some supply expected in the December quarter has moved into the first half of 2027; if it slips again, supply rather than demand will cap Azure’s growth.

3. Alphabet (GOOGL)

Forward P/E at Friday’s close: 21.2. Alphabet owns Google search, YouTube, and Google Cloud.

1. The stock ended the week 30.5% below its May high after Thursday’s 12.6% plunge. The price now assumes AI chatbots are eating into search.
2. Search is still growing. Its revenue rose 12% from a year earlier in the September quarter, short of forecasts, and Alphabet’s operating margin, 31.8%, was higher than a year before despite the spending.
3. Part of the spending comes back as sales: Google Cloud revenue rose 103% from a year earlier to $30.71 billion.

The price: about a fifth below Microsoft’s forward multiple and more than 40% below Apple’s, for faster revenue growth than either.

What could go wrong: the cash. Free cash flow was negative in each of the last two quarters, and Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said capital spending will “increase significantly in 2027,” IBTimes reported. If search slows too, the discount is deserved.

1 stock we’d skip

Apple (AAPL)

Forward P/E at Friday’s close: 37.4. Apple sells the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, plus services such as the App Store and iCloud.

1. That’s the highest of the seven, yet Apple’s revenue grew 14.2% over the 12 months to June, the slowest. Investors have paid up for a company that isn’t pouring its cash into data centers.
2. Growth is slowing. Apple forecast 9% to 11% growth for the September quarter, short of the roughly 12% Wall Street wanted, Reuters reported in July.
3. Memory is getting pricier, the shortage Intel blamed on Thursday. Tim Cook, chief executive until September, said in July that Apple’s stockpile buffer “was fading,” Reuters reported, and Jefferies analyst Edison Lee estimated memory costs could cut iPhone gross margin to 34.5% from 38%, Yahoo Finance reported.

The price: 39.5 times the past year’s earnings, higher than at the end of any of its last four fiscal years, by our calculation.

What would change our mind: a holiday-quarter forecast with faster growth and margins that hold up against memory costs when Apple reports at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday (our preview).

We’ll revisit this list after Apple reports on Monday and Nvidia on 17 November. Our recaps of Microsoft’s and Alphabet’s quarters have the details.