AWS’s $364 Billion Backlog Reinforces Amazon’s $200 Billion AI Bet as Bond Demand Cools
Published on 07/11/2026 at 15:01 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Amazon’s cloud infrastructure business has never had a bigger pipeline. AWS reported a record order backlog of $364 billion at the end of the first quarter, anchored by a single $100 billion contract with Anthropic. That figure — larger than the annual revenue of most S&P 500 companies — underpins a capital spending plan of roughly $200 billion for 2026, the most aggressive in the company’s history.
The disconnect this week came in the debt market. Amazon placed $25 billion in bonds across eight tranches with maturities from three to 40 years. The longest tranche priced at 125 basis points over comparable U.S. Treasuries. While that looked like a standard jumbo offering for a company with an AA rating, the demand told a different story: orders reached $62 billion, barely half the $125 billion that flooded in during the company’s previous bond sale in March. Total debt surged 81% quarter over quarter to around $119 billion, a leap that S&P nonetheless deemed compatible with its existing credit rating.
Investors have also watched the stock tread water. Amazon shares closed Friday at €214.85 in European trading, down 0.62% on the day but still up 1.11% for the week. The year-to-date gain stands at 11.14%, though the stock remains 9.75% below its 52-week high of €238.05 touched on May 5. The 14-day relative strength index sits at 52.6 — neutral territory — and the shares are trading 1.90% below their 50-day moving average while staying 6.84% above the 200-day average. Annualized 30-day volatility of 29.54% signals that swings are unlikely to narrow soon.
Behind the consolidation lies a cloud business firing on all cylinders. Amazon Web Services generated first-quarter revenue of $37.6 billion, up 28% year over year and the fastest clip in more than four years. AWS’s operating margin hit a record 13.1%, helping drive total corporate revenue to $181.5 billion — a 17% increase. Net income swelled to $30.3 billion, though that figure includes a $16.8 billion paper gain from Amazon’s stake in Anthropic. Excluding that item, earnings per share of $2.78 still topped the consensus estimate of $1.63 by 71%. AWS commands a 28% share of the cloud market, ahead of Microsoft Azure at 21% and Google Cloud at 14%.
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The $200 billion investment plan dwarfs last year’s estimated outlay of $131 billion, a roughly 50% jump. The capital will flow into data-center expansion, custom chip development (the Trainium and Inferentia lines are already generating a revenue run rate above $20 billion annually, growing at triple-digit percentages), and generative AI infrastructure. Andy Jassy, the CEO, has called artificial intelligence a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” even as the spending burden has pushed free cash flow to minus $2.5 billion on a trailing twelve-month basis — weighed down by $44.2 billion in capital expenditures during the first quarter alone.
Alongside the spending push, Amazon is changing how it services cloud customers. A new unit called Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) has been seeded with $1 billion. It dispatches specialized engineering teams to work on-site with large clients in 45-day “pods,” helping them move from AI experiments to production systems. The program targets the kind of hand-holding that specialist AI consultants typically provide, marking a departure from the self-service ethos that defined early cloud adoption. Separately, AWS has launched a feature called AI Agent Desktop Automation, which lets generative AI agents operate inside older desktop environments without requiring separate API development.
The investment cycle has not slowed Amazon’s operational overhaul. More than one million warehouse robots are now deployed, nearly matching the company’s logistics headcount. Three-quarters of all deliveries involve some robotic support, and Amazon’s DeepFleet AI software has cut travel times inside warehouses by 10%. The number of packages processed per employee has jumped from 175 in 2016 to 3,870 last year, and the company aims to automate 75% of its operations by 2027.
Green energy also got a fresh commitment. Amazon signed a 600-megawatt power-purchase agreement with Skyborn Renewables for the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea — the largest single corporate contract for CO?-free electricity in Germany, according to Amazon. The 63 turbines are slated for construction starting next summer and should supply more than one million German households by the end of 2028.
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On the regulatory front, the $2.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over contentious Prime subscription practices has been finalized, though customer refunds are still being administered and will trickle out through the second half of 2026. Amazon also reaffirmed a $13 billion investment commitment in India through 2030, mainly funneled into AWS data centers in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
All eyes now turn to July 30, when Amazon reports second-quarter results after the bell. Analysts expect revenue of roughly $196 billion, within the company’s own guidance range of $194 billion to $199 billion, and operating income of $20 billion to $24 billion. This year’s Prime Day fell in the second quarter, providing an extra lift, and the new “Selection Program” for marketplace sellers — featuring warehousing fee waivers and lower commission rates — takes effect the same day. The average price target among 56 analysts stands at $315.44, with 24/7 Wall St. going as high as $324.34 for year-end. At a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a trailing price-to-earnings multiple of 29.1, the market is pricing in strong growth ahead — provided the cloud backlog can sustain its momentum.
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