(SeaPRwire) –
By: Christian Pierce
Goldman Sachs’ research paints a clear picture of AI reshaping U.S. corporate financing. The bank estimates U.S. AI investment will hit nearly $600 billion in 2026. That’s close to 2% of GDP and makes up over 10% of business fixed investment in recent quarters. Q2 2026 saw U.S. corporations raise a record $252 billion in equity. This beats the previous high of $234 billion set in Q1 2021. AI companies drove much of this. They accounted for around 40% of U.S. follow-on equity volume this year. Technology, media, and telecom firms made up 28% of follow-on volume, more than double their share from the past five years.
Hyperscalers like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle are at the heart of this spending. Consensus estimates put their combined capital spending above $1 trillion annually in the coming years. But here’s the thing: their capital spending is expected to exceed operating cash flow by around $150 billion in 2027. If spending hits $1.4 trillion, the funding shortfall could top $300 billion. However, debt is set to carry most of the financing load. Goldman Sachs credit strategists forecast hyperscalers will fund 35% of their 2027 capital spending through debt. That means roughly $400 billion in global debt issuance next year.
Buybacks are key here. U.S. companies are expected to repurchase $1.4 trillion in shares this year. S&P 500 buyback growth was up 11% year over year in Q2. Total buyback authorizations reached a record $989 billion. This means buybacks will more than offset the new stock being issued. Goldman Sachs sums it up: equity issuance is a “headwind but not a gale”. The total issuance still represents only about 1% of the Russell 3000’s market cap, in line with the 2015-2019 average. So, while AI is driving stock issuance, debt and buybacks are keeping the market balanced.
Author bio: Christian Pierce, chief financial columnist with deep expertise in market dynamics and corporate finance trends