Amazon's free cash flow was negative by more than $42 billion over the 12 months through September, a record cash burn nearly double the previous high of about $23 billion in 2022. Most of the damage came in the third quarter, when Amazon spent about $77 billion on property and equipment, more than double a year earlier, leaving a gap of roughly $33 billion for the quarter. The spending is paying off at AWS, which grew 39% to about $46 billion, its fastest pace in nearly five years, while Amazon's operating margin of nearly 14% was its highest ever. Long-term debt rose to about $173 billion from $66 billion at the end of 2025, and cash fell to about $56 billion from $87 billion. Credit default swap costs on Amazon's debt have risen about 50% since early August, and the stock fell about 4% on Thursday.
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▼ Likely negativeAmazon
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Broadline Retail |
| Market cap | $2.7T |
| Close on 10/29/2026 | 244.23 |
| Change that session | -4.07% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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