Bloomberg Surveillance · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Ivan Fai argued that the heavy capital expenditures by hyperscalers, while lowering free cash flow in the short term, stimulate the broader economy. He explained that this investment drives demand for tradespeople, labor, and construction, benefiting companies like Caterpillar and even indirectly supporting future power solutions.
“Free cash flow is your cash flow minus your cap X, your capital investment. In fact, the reason that free cash flow is lower than cash flow is because they continue to invest, and they need to invest, and that investment helps the entire economy, especially the tech sector.”
“But it's driving demand for trades people and labor for electricians, for construction people. This is helping companies like Caterpillar, which makes obviously bulldozers and stuff for construction, but they also make diesel generators because you need backup power excuse me, in all of these data centers.”
“So this is just an incredibly broad and powerful investment theme.”