Apollo: AI spending yields zero payoff outside Magnificent 7

The Apollo finding lands at a delicate moment. Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon are all expected to report strong growth this week, but beating estimates is no longer sufficient to steady a market fixated on AI spending and returns. Investors are growing anxious for proof of AI's costworthiness amid elevated interest rates and energy costs, according to the analysis. The concern is sharp enough that one investment analyst told The Wall Street Journal that the fear is "we're going to end up converting all these data centers into pickleball facilities." That image captures the worry: without visible returns, the massive buildout could look like wasted capital rather than a strategic investment.