AWS leads $200B 2026 capex surge
- Amazon is heading into its April 29 first-quarter report after telling investors it plans about $200 billion of 2026 capital spending, mostly for AWS. - The company’s February forecast topped Wall Street’s roughly $146.6 billion capex estimate, after Amazon spent about $131 billion in 2025. - Big Tech’s 2026 AI buildout is nearing $700 billion, raising margin and cash-flow pressure. (cnbc.com)
Amazon goes into its April 29 earnings report with the biggest spending plan in Big Tech: about $200 billion of capital expenditures in 2026. (aboutamazon.com) (cnbc.com) Amazon gave that forecast on February 5, when it reported fourth-quarter 2025 results and said 2026 capex would rise from roughly $131 billion in 2025. (cnbc.com) (aboutamazon.com) Chief executive Andy Jassy said the spending would go “predominantly” to Amazon Web Services, with most of it tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure such as data centers, chips and networking gear. (cnbc.com 1) (cnbc.com 2) That is the core of the story around Amazon this quarter: AWS is still growing fast, but the company is spending ahead of revenue as cloud customers scramble for computing power. AWS revenue rose 24% in the fourth quarter to $35.58 billion, and operating income reached $12.47 billion. (cnbc.com) Jassy has argued the demand is already visible. In his April 9 shareholder letter, he said AWS’s artificial-intelligence revenue run rate was more than $15 billion in the first quarter of 2026. (aboutamazon.com) He used the same letter to make a broader case that Amazon is not building on speculation. Jassy wrote that Amazon’s custom chip business, including Graviton, Trainium and Nitro, is now running at more than $20 billion annually. (aboutamazon.com) (cnbc.com) Amazon has also lined up large customers for that capacity. On April 20, Amazon said Anthropic would secure up to 5 gigawatts of current and future Trainium capacity, including significant Trainium3 capacity expected to come online in 2026. (aboutamazon.com) The spending surge is not unique to Amazon, but Amazon is setting the pace. CNBC reported in February that Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft were on track to spend close to $700 billion combined in 2026 on artificial-intelligence buildouts. (cnbc.com) Wall Street’s concern is the near-term cost of that race. CNBC reported that Morgan Stanley projected Amazon could post roughly negative $17 billion of free cash flow in 2026, while Bank of America saw a deficit closer to $28 billion. (cnbc.com) Amazon’s first-quarter report on April 29 is the next test of whether AWS growth, AI bookings and margin trends can keep pace with a $200 billion buildout. (aboutamazon.com)
