Jordan
Long-Term Stock Investor, Compounding & Portfolio Construction
Amazon's AWS acceleration keeps the AI investment bet compelling, but its financing burden is growing. AWS grew 39%, its fastest in five years, and operating margin reached a record 13.9%. Yet trailing free cash flow is negative $42.4B as capex exceeds cash generation, and long-term debt rose from $65.5B to $173.1B. The long-term bet is that AI changes everyday life enough to justify that spend. x.comÂ
Amazon is a lifetime hold because its vast footprint across retail, AWS, advertising, logistics, subscriptions and AI makes it extremely hard to compete with, and it keeps monetizing the same customers and infrastructure in new ways. Last quarter revenue rose 20% to $200.6 billion, operating income 43% to $27.5 billion, and AWS 37% to a $169 billion run rate; advertising grew 26% and AI runs above $25 billion a year. It is still early in some of its biggest opportunities. x.comÂ
Amazon's record AI spending looks backed by AWS demand, despite pressure on near-term profit. AWS grew 39% to $46bn, and CEO Andy Jassy projects growth above 40% in both 2027 and 2028. Quarterly capex reached $77.3bn, almost $20bn above expectations; the Q4 profit guide missed and retail ads softened. AWS acceleration makes the drop worth buying. Overweight; $370 target. x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's AWS acceleration is beginning to support the case for its heavy AI investment cycle. Q3 AWS revenue grew 39.3% to $46B and operating income rose 55% to $17.8B; company operating margin hit a record 13.9%. Andy Jassy says Prime Video generates tens of billions in annualized revenue and is independently profitable. The EPS miss, slower 11% ad growth and roughly $220B of 2026 capex remain worth watching, but the long-term view stays extremely bullish. 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'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's faster AWS growth and broader profit support its investment case, but returns on infrastructure spending remain uncertain. AWS supplied about 60% of the $10.7B rise in operating income and North American retail about 37%. Trailing net capex of $210.7B exceeded $168.3B of operating cash flow. Much of the spend is on chips and servers with lives well under a decade; the test is how quickly capacity becomes AWS revenue. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's hundreds of billions in AWS GPU spending are generating billions in additional sales without the operating-margin payoff expected from that investment, worsening its credit risk. The attached AWS chart shows quarterly revenue rising from $23.1 billion in Q3 2023 to $42.2 billion in Q2 2026, alongside operating income rising from $7 billion to $16.6 billion; the concern is the return on the GPU spending. x.comÂ
AWS's rapid growth in a huge business makes the long-term outlook decisively bullish for Amazon and the AI ecosystem. AWS revenue grew 39.3% year over year in September 2026; management guides for growth above 40% in 2027 and 2028. Amazon is always very conservative with guidance, making that AI outlook doubly bullish. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Amazon's AWS growth still drives its valuation, making the post-earnings decline look temporary despite misses elsewhere. AWS grew 39% to $46 billion, above the $45.4 billion expected; Jassy sees growth above 40% in both 2027 and 2028. Earnings, advertising and Q4 sales guidance missed expectations, while trailing free cash flow was negative $42.4 billion. x.com x.comÂ
Meta's negative free cash flow brings the cloud's physical infrastructure bill into view. Last week it reported negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion; tonight Amazon gave back $315 billion in after-hours market value, as Kobeissi Letter reported. Eventually someone sends the invoice. 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
