Amazon is one of the market's great opportunity-cost traps. After its earnings and historic capex spending, the stock risks moving sideways for a long period, locking up capital that could earn much better returns elsewhere. x.comÂ
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Deep-Value Investor, Ex-Tech Executive, Agentic Equity Research Builder
Amazon's unusual long-term AWS guidance looks desperate and leaves its stock looking dead. @P_Remarks says Amazon normally avoids long-term guidance and speculates that its projection of over 40% AWS revenue growth in both 2027 and 2028 was a Hail Mary to offset a quarter weak relative to expectations. x.comÂ
Amazon's weak retail growth has shaken the earlier buy case. Online-store sales rose just 2% year over year, and the retail numbers look so poor that it is no longer clear at what price the shares are a buy. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's AWS growth remains strong despite slight earnings misses. AWS revenue rose 39% year over year in Q3. Increased 2027 capex could still weigh on the shares in the short term, even if demand continues to rise. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's negative free cash flow and far-off AWS guidance add to its investment risk. Free cash flow is -$42 billion. True_yes_man describes Jassy extrapolating fourth-quarter AWS revenue at 40% growth for five years. That guide cannot be taken seriously; it resembles the Tesla and Nvidia playbook of projecting years ahead to support the market into the midterms, then recalibrating later. x.com x.comÂ
Amazon looks set to rally into its Q1 report and then fall again, because heavy non-AWS investment weighs on operating income and the stock works in harvest years, not investment years. A clean operating income guide needs a huge AWS beat to flow through, and people already put out very high AWS numbers. Layoffs help, but not enough against data-center and fulfillment efficiency comps. It is a crowded long that has crushed Microsoft on relative performance, with market caps approaching parity. … Show more
Amazon's accelerating AWS growth at high margins shows the strength of its moat, but returns on heavy capex remain unproven. AWS grew 39% to $46B, its fastest growth in nearly five years, at a 38.7% operating margin; Amazon posted record operating income. Online stores grew 2%, while ads grew 11%, down from 26% last quarter. Trailing free cash flow fell to -$42.4B as net capex reached $210.7B. Returns on about $220B of planned 2026 capex remain the open question, with free cash flow the test. … Show more
Amazon warrants caution in the short term because its capex spending is getting wild and free cash flow is taking a hit, expected to turn negative this year. x.comÂ
Amazon is uninvestable despite looking very cheap on above-consensus estimates, because everyone else's numbers are also above the Street, leaving no incremental buyers. x.comÂ
Amazon's AWS growth makes the earnings dip a buying opportunity. Sam Badawi says AWS grew 39% to $46 billion in the quarter; DudeWhoInvests says AWS is projected to grow more than 40% in 2027 and 2028. Buying the dip looks wise. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Jeff Bezos' $4 billion share sale, a day after Amazon broke out, undercuts the stock's momentum. Bezos and his ex-wife have become a persistent drag on Amazon longs. x.comÂ