---
title: "OCF: what it means · The AI Compute Race · DRYBURGH"
source: https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/ocf
description: "OCF: Operating cash flow, the cash a company's operations produce before capital expenditure. The Scorecard."
---

# OCF

What does “OCF” mean?

OCFOperating cash flow, the cash a company’s operations produce before capital expenditure. *The Scorecard.*

From *The AI Compute Race*. [Read the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#buy)

## Where the record uses it

- Scorecard indicator [Hyperscalers’ Q1 operating cash flow (OCF) / cash capex](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-21)
- Scorecard indicator [Microsoft Jun. quarter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard#row-22)

## Sources that use it

- AI investment boom puts Big Tech’s free cash flow under pressure, Reuters, 22 July 2026 (LSEG consensus: 2025→2027 capex +$534 billion vs operating cash flow +$340 billion; Microsoft quarter OCF $35.8 billion vs capex incl. finance leases $37.5 billion; Oracle FY2026 capex $55.7 billion vs OCF $32 billion). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/press#reuters-lseg-fcf)
- Isabel Juniewicz, “Hyperscaler capex is on trend to outpace their cash inflows by the end of 2026,” Epoch AI data insight, 16 June 2026 (aggregate cash capex across Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle on track to overtake operating cash flow around Q3 2026; CY2026 Q1: OCF $157.9 billion, cash capex $148.4 billion; on the crossover: “aggregate cash capex across hyperscalers is on track to overtake operating cash flow around Q3 2026” (the opening paragraph)). [In the Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources/research#epoch-capex-ocf)

## Related terms

- [Capital expenditure](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary/capital-expenditure)

From the glossary of The AI Compute Race.

- [Campuses](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/ledger)
- [Tests](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/tests)
- [Scorecard](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/scorecard)
- [Data](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/data/releases)
- [Chapter by chapter](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/companion)
- [The record at a glance](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/observatory)
- [The machine](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/machine)
- [One campus, four futures](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/hyperion)
- [Glossary](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/glossary)
- [People](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/people)
- [Sources](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/sources)
- [Notes](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/notes)
- [Where the book was wrong](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/corrections)
- [Where its sources were wrong](https://dryburgh.com/corrections?book=vol1)
- [The Paper](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/paper)
- [Consent](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/consent)
- [Who builds and pays](https://dryburgh.com/vol1/parties)

*The AI Compute Race: Five Races, One Machine* is a book by Lee S. Dryburgh, the first volume of THE COMPUTE ECONOMY, published by Dryburgh, an imprint of Contestra OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia; its record closes on 8 November 2026.

[About the book](https://dryburgh.com/vol1)[Tell me when it is out](https://dryburgh.com/vol1#notify)