Official definition · 官方定义
“A capital expenditure (“CapEx” for short) is the payment with either cash or credit to purchase long-term physical or fixed assets used in a business’s operations.”[1]
— Corporate Finance Institute, CFI Resource Library · corporatefinanceinstitute.com ↗ · accessed 2026-10-25
Capital expenditure is money spent on long-lived assets: factories, equipment, data centres, software. It is recorded on the balance sheet and depreciated over time, not deducted from profit all at once.
资本开支是花在长期资产上的钱：厂房、设备、数据中心、软件。它记在资产负债表上，按年折旧，而不是一次性从利润里扣除。
Capex is a bet on the future, and it is the first thing managements cut when demand sours. That makes it a leading indicator: falling capex today means fewer orders for suppliers tomorrow. It is also where accounting gets flexible — capitalising a cost instead of expensing it lifts this year's profit and pushes the pain into later years.
资本开支是对未来的下注，也是需求转弱时管理层第一个砍的项目。所以它是领先指标：今天资本开支下滑，意味着明天供应商的订单减少。
这里也是会计最有弹性的地方：把费用资本化而不是费用化，能抬高今年利润，把痛苦推到以后。
| Move变动 | Where it appeared出现位置 | What it means这句话在说什么 |
|---|---|---|
| — | The AI trade splits in two 资本开支 · 第 4 张术语卡 | A paused site cuts capex at the buyer and revenue at the seller; that is the whole split in one sentence. 资本开支不直接进利润表，而是先变成资产，再按年折旧。所以同一笔钱会两次影响报表：当年是现金流出（现金流量表），往后几年是折旧（利润表）。这解释了为什么一家公司可以在「利润很好」的年份里现金紧张，也可以在「利润下滑」的年份里现金充裕。 |
| $230bn | The AI boom's real bill arrives in the depreciation line 资本开支 · 第 3 张术语卡 | Hyperscaler capex ran at about $230 billion in 2024; the BIS puts 2026 above $400 billion. 资本开支当期不进利润表，而是先变成资产，之后逐年折旧。所以「capex 高」本身不等于「利润差」，要等折旧慢慢上来才见分晓——这就是为什么这轮 AI 投资的账单要几年后才显形。 |
| — | Why CoreWeave is in the crosshairs of the AI scare 资本开支 · 第 1 张术语卡 | CoreWeave's capex is estimated at $35–39 billion this year, about four times last year's, against revenue expected to roughly double. 判断一家重资产公司，先看「capex ÷ 经营现金流」：长期大于 1，说明扩张全靠外部融资。CoreWeave 2026 年 capex 350–390 亿美元，而 2025 年全年营收才 51 亿美元——扩张速度远远超过自身造血能力，这就是它必须持续借债的原因。 |
| $220bn | Amazon seeks to offload $8bn of Nvidia chips to investors 资本开支 · 第 6 张术语卡 | Amazon is expected to spend $220bn of capital expenditure this year, mostly on AWS chips and data centres — the very number the SPV is designed to keep off the balance sheet. 两个数字要分清：资本开支（capex）是「今年花了多少」，自由现金流（经营现金流减 capex）是「花完之后还剩多少」。亚马逊和 Alphabet 近期都出现自由现金流转负，这正是它们要找表外融资的原因。折旧并没有消失，只是换了个人承担。 |
Capex is a cost
It is an investment. The cost appears later as depreciation.
Capex equals growth
Maintenance capex just keeps the lights on.
Capex is always good for the stock
Markets punish spending that does not earn its cost of capital.
· capex of $Xbn
· capex guidance
· capital intensity
· maintenance capex
· underinvest
capex of $Xbn 资本开支 X 亿美元；capex guidance 资本开支指引；capital intensity 资本密集度；maintenance capex 维护性资本开支；underinvest 投资不足。
· capex vs opex
· capex vs depreciation (cash vs accounting)
capex 是资本开支，opex 是运营费用；capex 是现金支出，depreciation 是会计分摊。
The company raised its capex guidance to $Xbn to expand data-centre capacity.
指引句：公司把资本开支指引上调至 X 亿美元，用于扩建数据中心——to expand 表用途。
“A paused site cuts capex at the buyer and revenue at the seller; that is the whole split in one sentence.”
“Hyperscaler capex ran at about $230 billion in 2024; the BIS puts 2026 above $400 billion.”
“CoreWeave's capex is estimated at $35–39 billion this year, about four times last year's, against revenue exp…”
“Amazon is expected to spend $220bn of capital expenditure this year, mostly on AWS chips and data centres — t…”