Money a company spends on long-term stuff, buildings, equipment, data centers, rather than day-to-day costs.
Capital expenditure, or capex, is money a company spends on long-term physical assets, buildings, machinery, data centers, that it expects to use for years, as opposed to operating expenses, which cover day-to-day running costs like salaries and rent. Heavy capex spending can be a bullish sign, a company investing aggressively in future growth, or a red flag if it's not translating into revenue fast enough. It's become an especially closely watched number recently as major tech companies have poured unprecedented sums into AI infrastructure and data centers, a bet that's still being tested.
Part of the Open Bell Glossary — plain-English explanations of the terms that come up on the show. Browse every term.