Inside Big Tech
How NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon turn demand into revenue, profit, and cash. Explore the differences behind their scale.
Market caps: preserved October 6, 2026 premarket provider snapshot. Financial reporting periods differ.
Trailing revenue
USD billions
Latest trailing periods end in June 2026, except NVIDIA in July. Exact dates and sources appear below.
NVIDIA revenue growth
Exceptional growth comes with a need to examine collections and product-transition margins.
Apple cash after capex
A low historical cash-capex burden supports returns. Future AI usage still has a cost.
Amazon investment bill
Infrastructure investment exceeds operating cash generation under the company's FCF definition.
Findings compare all five companies, regardless of filters. Sources: company filings and earnings releases in the bibliography.
Growth over time
USD billions
Open the original HTML for the interactive historical chart. Full comparisons and sources follow below.
Fiscal periods differ. The original HTML plots actual period-end dates.
Show underlying historical data
Profit is only part of the picture
Trailing GAAP net income and free cash flow, USD billions
| Company | TTM end | Revenue $B | Operating $B | Net income $B | FCF $B | Op. margin | Revenue YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 2026-07-26 | 302.969 | 197.579 | 192.879 | 126.886 | 65.2% | 105.9% |
| Apple | 2026-06-27 | 466.823 | 154.859 | 128.930 | 136.683 | 33.2% | 16.4% |
| Alphabet | 2026-06-30 | 445.867 | 147.628 | 244.205 | 53.273 | 33.1% | 24.2% |
| Microsoft | 2026-06-30 | 331.839 | 155.237 | 133.749 | 66.987 | 46.8% | 17.7% |
| Amazon | 2026-06-30 | 775.680 | 93.712 | 135.281 | -7.604 | 12.1% | 19.6% |
Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft: operating cash flow less cash PPE purchases. Amazon: operating cash flow less PPE purchases net of sale proceeds and incentives, excluding finance-lease principal. NVIDIA: its published FCF also deducts purchases and principal payments for PPE and intangibles. Definitions differ; FCF is not GAAP profit or cash after all investing/financing.
What matters for each business
Select a company to explore its business mix, findings, and watchlist. Profile selection is independent of comparison filters.
NVIDIA
Revenue is growing fastest in this group. Customer collections and transition margins determine how much of that growth becomes cash.
Apple
Strong hardware demand and Services margins support cash generation. AI must prove its incremental economics.
Alphabet
Search and Cloud show strong operating growth, but investment gains distort net income and capex consumes cash.
Microsoft
Azure and paid AI adoption extend enterprise distribution. Cash returns must catch up with infrastructure spending.
Amazon
AWS supplies most operating profit. Infrastructure spending exceeds trailing operating cash generation.
What would growth earn?
Change sales growth and operating margin to see the arithmetic. This is an illustration, not a forecast or valuation model.
Revenue = trailing revenue × (1 + growth).
Operating income = scenario revenue × margin.
Revenue growth and operating margin determine operating profit. Capital spending, tax, dilution, and valuation require separate assumptions.
Defaults are author assumptions, not consensus, management guidance, or probabilities. This does not estimate free cash flow or stock returns. Changing the margin does not automatically change capital spending. The next twelve months begin after each company's stated trailing-period end.
The numbers, definitions, and sources
All financial amounts in the table are USD billions. Click a company for its full report.
| Company | TTM end | Revenue $B | Operating $B | Net income $B | FCF $B | Op. margin | Revenue YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 2026-07-26 | 302.969 | 197.579 | 192.879 | 126.886 | 65.2% | 105.9% |
| Apple | 2026-06-27 | 466.823 | 154.859 | 128.930 | 136.683 | 33.2% | 16.4% |
| Alphabet | 2026-06-30 | 445.867 | 147.628 | 244.205 | 53.273 | 33.1% | 24.2% |
| Microsoft | 2026-06-30 | 331.839 | 155.237 | 133.749 | 66.987 | 46.8% | 17.7% |
| Amazon | 2026-06-30 | 775.680 | 93.712 | 135.281 | -7.604 | 12.1% | 19.6% |
GAAP net income is consolidated net income. Alphabet's common-share valuation denominator separately deducts preferred dividends. Market caps count each company once.
Methodology and limitations
AnnualCompany fiscal years; Microsoft ends June, Apple September, NVIDIA January. Alphabet and Amazon use calendar years.
QuarterLatest four company fiscal quarters, not identical calendar windows. Fourth quarters and standalone cash flows derived from annual/YTD differences where required.
TtmSum of latest four quarters. Financial dates are stated per company.
FcfApple, Alphabet and Microsoft: operating cash flow less cash PPE purchases. Amazon: operating cash flow less PPE purchases net of sale proceeds and incentives, excluding finance-lease principal. NVIDIA: its published FCF also deducts purchases and principal payments for PPE and intangibles. Definitions differ; FCF is not GAAP profit or cash after all investing/financing.
ValuationProvider-rounded company-wide market caps, one company per share-class group. Market cap / trailing GAAP common net income is an approximate P/E, not a quote-based diluted EPS calculation. No enterprise values or target prices.
SourceSEC companyfacts, annual and quarterly filings and earnings releases; source links travel with each company.
PrecisionUSD billions from reported USD millions. Source statements occasionally have immaterial rounding/reconciliation differences; NVIDIA published FCF is used directly. Figures are historical snapshots, not live feeds.