For most of the last decade, compute was an operating cost that scaled with usage. It has become something closer to a factory: bought years ahead of demand, financed like infrastructure, and written down over a schedule that assumes the hardware stays useful.
The depreciation argument
The debate is not whether the spending is real — it plainly is — but how long the assets last. Extend the useful life and reported earnings improve; shorten it and the same cash flows look far less impressive.
What a careful reader checks
Compare stated useful lives across peers. Look for changes in estimate disclosed in the notes rather than the release. And separate capacity bought for committed customers from capacity bought on conviction.
