AI companies have announced over $200 billion worth of new cash borrowing and equity financing deals during the second half of this year despite the PHLX Semiconductor Sector shedding a quarter of its value in the same period.
Created in 1993 by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the PHLX Semiconductor Sector is a capitalization-weighted index made up of the 30 largest US-traded companies that design, distribute, manufacture, and sell semiconductors.
As stock prices across the AI sector have declined, executives have rushed to secure financing via capital raises. Among them, Oracle filed $20 billion worth of fresh debt and equity offerings this week, adding to a record-shattering $95 billion financing plan by Meta.
Microsoft joined in the borrowing spree, pricing a $25 billion bond on October 29 — the company’s first major US debt sale in nine years.
All of the biggest AI companies are borrowing at once. Alphabet (Gemini AI), SpaceX (Grok AI), Meta (Meta AI), Microsoft (CoPilot AI), along with Oracle, have announced $129 billion in combined financing since last week alone.
The inverse correlation between AI stock performance and fundraising by those same companies is particularly obvious since June 30, with a step-up in borrowing as share prices have crashed 27%, as measured by SOXQ, an ETF tracking the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index.
On a year-to-date basis, AI hyperscalers have already borrowed at least $214 billion in 2026, already 157% more than the $83 billion they raised across all of 2025.
For example, Meta’s new financing plan from last Monday paired $35 billion of stock sales with a $60 billion at-the-market stock sale program.
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