Delays from emerging neocloud partners have occurred before at Microsoft, but they are more critical now as Anthropic prepares to go public. Anthropic relies on infrastructure from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft for many of its computing needs, alongside capacity from SpaceX, Lambda, and Nscale, which filed to go public in September but has not updated its prospectus in weeks.
Market Challenges and Neocloud Pressures
At times this year, Anthropic’s Claude assistant has been unavailable due to surging demand. Rival OpenAI, which has indicated that an initial public offering in 2027 is likely, is also in constant need of additional capacity. A major market challenge is that neoclouds require billions of dollars in outside capital to fund their expansions but lack investment-grade credit ratings. With interest rates rising and concerns about their debt loads growing, lenders are withdrawing from the market.
Last week, analysts at Gartner shared with US Top News and Analysis (cnbc.com) the firm’s prediction that, by 2030, 80% of neocloud companies will either be absorbed or completely cease operations. Nvidia-backed neocloud Firmus, based in Australia, withdrew plans to go public earlier this month, despite boasting large usage commitments from Meta and OpenAI.
Future Outlook and Financial Results
None of that suggests the artificial intelligence build-out is over, or even close to plateauing. Microsoft’s Hood said Wednesday that she sees capital spending accelerating in the first half of 2027 thanks to higher component costs and the delayed deliveries. As a group, hyperscaler capital expenditure is expected to top $1 trillion next year and, according to some estimates, continue rising from there.
Despite the third-quarter capital expenditure shortfall, investors cheered Microsoft’s report on Wednesday as the company beat earnings and revenue estimates, driven by 48% sales growth in its Azure cloud business. Cantor analysts led by Thomas Blakey wrote in a Wednesday note to clients that they view the quarter as further validation of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-led growth opportunity, recommending buying Microsoft stock and pushing up their one-year price target to $630 from $608.
