Business1 min read

Amazon sinks as AI spending eclipses fastest cloud growth in five years

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The tech giant's heavy investments drove trailing 12-month cash burn to $42.4 billion, burdened by $77.26 billion in capital expenditure that beat analyst expectations by roughly $20 billion. Although cloud revenue surged 39% to reach $46 billion, advertising revenue missed projections for the first time in seven quarters at $19.6 billion. Andy Jassy defended the elevated outlay, projecting that Amazon Web Services could generate $1 trillion in revenue within five years.

Key points

  • Total capital expenditures are anticipated to reach $220 billion this year, with manageme…: Total capital expenditures are anticipated to reach $220 billion this year, with management guiding for meaningfully higher spending next year.
  • Fourth-quarter revenue guidance midpoint of $243.5 billion arrived slightly under analyst…: Fourth-quarter revenue guidance midpoint of $243.5 billion arrived slightly under analyst forecasts, compounding near-term investor pressure.
  • Leadership remains committed to aggressive AI investments, anticipating that cloud operat…: Leadership remains committed to aggressive AI investments, anticipating that cloud operations could achieve a $1 trillion run rate within five years.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Oct 29 : Amazon.com on Thursday reported a massive cash burn in the third quarter, sending shares sharply lower, while it signaled higher capital expenditures next year atop an already huge amount in 2026.

Amazon's cloud computing cash cow, Amazon Web Services, continued to accelerate, but the company's aggressive spending to capture AI demand overshadowed broader growth that investors typically crave — with more such spending to come.

The Seattle-based retailer expects revenue between $240.0 billion and $247.0 billion in the fourth quarter, bracketing estimates of $244.51 billion, according to LSEG, but its midpoint of $243.5 billion came in slightly lower.

Investors soured on the company, driving shares down as much as 7 per cent in extended trading, and the shares had declined 4.3 per cent in regular trading to end at $243.79. The drop mirrored a broader selloff among tech stocks on Thursday after Intel warned of flagging PC revenue through next year's first half, sending its shares down 23 per cent in after-hours trading. Alphabet shares fell 12 per cent during the regular session, their worst single-day percentage…

Business