Goldman Sachs: Cloud Vendors capex Raised to $220 Billion, ASML and Other Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturers Directly Benefit
According to TechFlow Research, Goldman Sachs' July 31 research report pointed out that the capital expenditures of the four major cloud vendors continued to be upwardly revised in the second quarter. Amazon raised its 2026 cash capex guidance from $200 billion to $220 billion, Google raised its guidance to $195-205 billion, and Meta narrowed its range to $130-145 billion. TSMC's revenue guidance was revised up to growth of over 40%, and capital expenditure was raised to $60-64 billion. Lam Research raised its 2026 WFE estimate to the $150 billion range, KLA similarly raised its estimate to over $150 billion, and believes $190 billion is a reasonable level for 2027. Goldman Sachs believes the AI capital expenditure transmission chain is strengthening at each level, from cloud vendors to foundries to equipment vendors, with every link confirming demand. ASML benefits from EUV and advanced DUV demand, ASMI benefits from ALD and epitaxy demand, BESI benefits from the adoption of custom chips and advanced packaging investment, Nebius benefits from the expanding compute gap, and Technoprobe benefits from increased testing intensity. Goldman Sachs assesses that the market may have underestimated the sustainability and breadth of benefits in the upstream equipment segment.
