The era of massive Big Tech stock buybacks is over. Combined buybacks by Alphabet, GOOGL, Amazon, AMZN, Microsoft, MSFT, Meta, META, and Oracle, ORCL, fell to $4.4 billion in Q3 2026, the lowest since Q3 2017. Share repurchases have dropped -90% since the ~$45.9 billion peak recorded in Q4 2021. This also marks the 3rd consecutive quarter with buybacks below $5.0 billion. This comes as Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle have not purchased their own stock in 2026. By comparison, combined buybacks by these Big Tech companies stood at +$33.0 billion in Q1 2026. AI spending is coming at the expense of Big Tech buybacks.