Big Tech’s $140 Billion Cash Haul Points to Shareholder Returns

  • Returning funds to investors in focus after Meta’s stock surge
  • Buybacks can help companies increase value of their stock

Customers wait in line outside an Apple store in Palo Alto, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Big Tech is bringing in more cash than ever before, priming the group to return money to shareholders and potentially adding fuel to a rally that’s already sent most of the group into record territory.

The five biggest technology companies that have reported earnings so far — Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. — generated a record $139.5 billion of combined cash from operations in the quarter that ended on Dec. 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.