Amazon (AMZN) just served up a high-stakes masterclass in “growth at any cost,” and Wall Street is having a hard time swallowing the bill. While the Q4 2025 numbers were technically a win, with revenue hitting $213.4 billion and AWS growth accelerating to its fastest clip in years (24%), the celebration was cut short. The real story was the $200 billion capital expenditure forecast for 2026. That’s nearly $50 billion above what Wall Street had in mind, and it sent shares tumbling as much as 9% as investors started asking the “ROI” question.
CEO Andy Jassy is essentially betting the farm on the AI arms race, custom silicon, and the Amazon Leo satellite network. The $142 billion annual run rate for AWS proves the cloud engine is firing, but that 71% year-over-year crash in free cash flow is the “mayhem” currently driving the narrative. The message is clear: Amazon is prioritizing long-term growth and dominance over short-term margin protection.
AMZN Stock Live After Earnings Report
On February 5, 2026, Steve Teilmann and Kevin Avery broke down the Q4 results against the backdrop of a broader Big Tech recovery after a huge sell-off. The session centered on the “Capex Shockwave”, Amazon has now joined Alphabet ($185B) and Meta ($135B) in a staggering $650 billion collective AI spending blitz.
Despite AWS beating revenue marks and advertising surging to $21.3 billion, the market couldn’t get past the light Q1 profit guidance.
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