Amazon (AMZN) earned $135 billion in net income over the four quarters to June 2026, well above its $93.7 billion of operating income, yet its free cash flow was negative $11.6 billion over the same twelve months. Most spending funds new AWS and generative AI capacity; in the June quarter Amazon spent $53.1 billion in cash on capital projects against $45.4 billion of operating cash inflow, and expects about $220 billion of cash capital spending in 2026, up from about $200 billion because memory costs more. Free cash flow fell from $48.3 billion in the twelve months to June 2024 to $13.5 billion a year later, then turned negative, while total debt rose to $223 billion from $134 billion. Investors pay 19.9 times earnings versus 23.0 for the S&P 500, and management cited a $496 billion backlog and 36.7% AWS revenue growth, with most AI capacity contracted for at least five-year terms. The article says the figure to watch is capital spending against operating cash when Amazon reports third-quarter results, expected in October 2026.
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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 10/22/2026 | 250.49 |
| Change that session | -4.53% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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