Editorial companion

What stands out

The clip captures a simple but important shift: Meta reiterated massive artificial intelligence (AI) capital expenditures (capex) and warned about falling free cash flow, Microsoft leaned on Azure cloud strength, and Lam Research bumped guidance. Those three headlines compress into a question investors care about now, which is whether spending-driven AI winners will hand more near-term cash flow to the market or whether hardware suppliers can convert stronger demand into durable profits. An added data point: recent reports of insider selling at Lam Research give that bullish guidance an uneasy footnote.