If you own Amazon (AMZN) stock, you probably bought it for growth, and you may now wonder what that growth is costing. Management gave you a reason to ask on its July 30, 2026 earnings call, when it raised its spending plan for the year. So how different is the Amazon you own today from the one you bought?
Amazon’s Building Bill Tops The Cash It Brings In
Amazon has become a far heavier spender, and a more profitable company at the same time. Capital spending took 22.3% of its revenue over the twelve months through fiscal Q2 2026. Across the fourteen years before, it usually took 6.6%.
That spending came to $173.0 billion over the last twelve months, more than the $161.4 billion of cash Amazon’s operations produced. So free cash flow, the cash left after capital spending, was an outflow of $11.6 billion.
Profit moved your way, and that is news a holder can like. Amazon’s operating margin was 12.1% over the last twelve months, and it was usually 3.2% across…