Fed Hikes Rates to 3.75%-4% as Warsh Warns Inflation Still Too High

โดย The Motley Fool·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4%, the first increase since July 2023, with new Chairman Kevin Warsh calling the move overdue because inflation remains too high. The hike lands as the AI infrastructure build-out has shifted from a cash-only story to one financed heavily in the bond market, and three names capture the split. Nvidia generated about $74 billion in operating cash flow and nearly $70 billion in free cash flow in the first half of its fiscal year while capital spending was only about $4.4 billion, though it issued $25 billion of unsecured senior notes in June and its long-term debt rose to $32 billion by the end of the second quarter from about $7.5 billion at the start of the year. Oracle's capital expenditures surged to about $55.7 billion in fiscal 2026, turning free cash flow to negative $24 billion, and it raised $43 billion of debt and $5 billion of equity while guiding for another $40 billion in fiscal 2027, with S&P Global rating its credit at BBB-. Amazon is guiding toward $220 billion of capex in 2026, up from a prior estimate of $200 billion, after issuing roughly $54 billion of bonds in March and an additional $25 billion over the summer, with trailing 12-month free cash flow of negative $7.6 billion. Bank of America research shows the big five hyperscalers issued $121 billion in debt during 2025, versus an average of $28 billion per year between 2020 and 2024, and now forecasts as much as $175 billion this year.

Impact on assets 6

Artificial Intelligence▼ · 3 stocks
Oracle Corporation
ORCL
▼ NegativeMonetaryrelevance

Fed hike pressures Oracle most, given $55.7B capex, negative $24B free cash flow, $43B debt raise, and BBB- credit rating.

Amazon.com Inc
AMZN
▼ NegativeMonetaryrelevance

Fed rate hike to 3.75%-4% raises financing costs for Amazon's debt-funded AI capex, which is guided to $220B in 2026 with negative free cash flow.

NVIDIA Corporation
NVDA
▼ NegativeMonetaryrelevance

Rate hike raises borrowing costs as Nvidia's long-term debt rose to $32B and it issued $25B of notes to help finance the AI build-out.

Financials▲ · 1 stocks
Others▲ · 2 stocks

Theme Impact 4

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