Barclays: AI capital spending pressure increases, tech giants may turn to equity and convertible bonds for financing.

Barclays stated that as the capital expenditure on artificial intelligence grows larger and the cycle becomes longer, super-scale cloud vendors are broadening their financing methods. They are no longer relying solely on investment-grade bonds, and equity and equity-linked financing will become an important supplementary tool for the construction of AI infrastructure. Barclays emphasized that equity financing does not mean a "last resort" or financial pressure, but rather proactive balance sheet management. Equity can diversify sources of financing, reduce reliance on the bond market, improve leverage and credit metrics, and provide a buffer for bondholders, thus preserving future borrowing capacity.