Amazon spent $173 billion on capital projects over the 12 months to June 2026, more than the $161 billion its operations generated, leaving free cash flow at negative $11.6 billion versus positive $13.5 billion a year earlier. Total debt rose to $223 billion from $134 billion, and interest expense increased to $3.33 billion from $2.23 billion. Management attributes the spending mainly to AWS and generative AI to meet strong customer demand, citing a backlog of $496 billion and $53.1 billion in cash capital spending in fiscal Q2 2026. Operating margin reached 12.1%, its highest across the 40 quarter ends since fiscal Q3 2016, with operating income at $93.7 billion versus $76.2 billion, yet operating cash flow still fell short of the build. Alphabet recorded $53.3 billion in free cash flow over the same period, while Amazon posted negative free cash flow of $18.2 billion in fiscal Q1 2026 and negative $8.82 billion in fiscal Q2 2026.
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AMZNartificial intelligencecloud computingearningsfree cash flow
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Related tickers and likely impact
AMZN
• NeutralAmazon
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Broadline Retail |
| Market cap | $2.7T |
| Close on 10/23/2026 | 248.04 |
| Change that session | -0.93% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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