Demand
Hyperscaler Commercial Backlog Growth (YoY)
Year-over-year growth in each hyperscaler’s reported commercial backlog or performance obligations. Contract scopes differ by issuer, so growth trajectories are more comparable than absolute backlog levels.
Hyperscaler Commercial Backlog Growth (YoY)
- Microsoft commercial RPO (all commercial)
- Alphabet revenue backlog (primarily Google Cloud)
- Amazon long-term RPO (primarily AWS)
Alphabet revenue backlog (primarily Google Cloud) changed 380.1% year over year in 2026-06-30.
Methodology
Values are quarter-end balances reported in primary company investor-relations materials or SEC filings, transcribed without interpolation and expressed in one common unit: nominal USD billions. The series begins March 31, 2023 and runs through the latest quarter available by August 27, 2026.
Microsoft's line is commercial remaining performance obligation: the commercial portion of revenue allocated to obligations that are unearned or expected to be invoiced and recognized later. It spans Microsoft's broader commercial portfolio and must not be read as Azure backlog. Microsoft expected roughly 40-45% of total-company RPO within 12 months through September 2025; at December 2025 it disclosed a roughly 2.5-year weighted-average commercial duration and about 25% within 12 months.
Alphabet's line is total revenue backlog, historically described as primarily related to Google Cloud. Through December 2025 it excluded cancellable contracts and contracts with an original expected term of one year or less. Beginning March 2026 Alphabet included contracts originally one year or less; that portion was about $7.3 billion at the transition. The filing separately identified $462.3 billion of the $467.6 billion total as Google Cloud in March 2026 and $513.9 billion of $519.5 billion in June 2026.
Amazon's line is performance obligations primarily related to AWS associated with customer contracts for future services, limited to contracts whose original terms exceed one year. Recognition depends heavily on customer usage and can extend beyond the original term; its weighted-average remaining life rose from roughly four years to 5.5 years in March 2026 and 6.4 years in June 2026.
The chart uses separate, unstacked lines because the balances are non-additive and only directionally comparable. Scope, practical expedients, cancellability, contract duration, customer concentration, hardware components, and recognition timing differ. Rounded values remain rounded, and notes identify definition changes and major disclosed contract-driven inflections.
Published values are year-over-year growth rates: the current reported level divided by the same series’ level four quarters earlier, minus one, multiplied by 100. The first available quarter for each series is omitted because no prior-year comparator exists; source levels remain in point notes.
Frequently asked questions
Are the three lines directly comparable?
No. They share the concept of contracted revenue not yet recognized, but Microsoft covers all commercial revenue, Alphabet is primarily Google Cloud, and Amazon is primarily AWS and excludes contracts originally one year or less. Use the chart for trend and inflection analysis, not vendor market-share ranking.
Why is this a line chart rather than stacked bars?
The balances overlap neither in definition nor in recognition horizon and should never be summed. Independent lines make each company's trajectory visible without implying a meaningful industry total.
What changed in 2026?
Alphabet began including contracts originally one year or less and disclosed major TPU hardware-related backlog. Amazon disclosed a $100 billion eight-year AWS commitment expansion with OpenAI in Q1 and a more-than-$100 billion ten-year Anthropic expansion in Q2. These long-duration commitments help explain why backlog rose much faster than near-term revenue.
Does backlog equal guaranteed future revenue?
Not necessarily. Revenue depends on delivery, usage, contract terms, variable consideration, and possible renegotiation or cancellation where permitted. The filings explicitly caution that timing can differ materially, so backlog is a visibility indicator rather than a forecast.
What are remaining performance obligations and revenue backlog?
They are company-reported balances for contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized, including amounts already billed but unearned and, where each company's definition permits, amounts expected to be invoiced later. The precise scope and practical expedients differ by issuer.
Why are these balances relevant to AI infrastructure demand?
Alphabet and Amazon say their balances are primarily related to Google Cloud and AWS, and recent increases include disclosed large AI infrastructure or hardware commitments. Microsoft's figure covers its entire commercial portfolio, however, so none of the lines is an AI-only backlog measure.
How are the quarterly values sourced and prepared?
The chart transcribes disclosed quarter-end balances from Microsoft investor-relations materials and Alphabet and Amazon SEC filings, expressed in nominal USD billions. It does not interpolate missing quarters, infer balances from growth rates, or normalize different contract-duration rules.