Amazon reported $578 billion in unrecognized customer commitments, mostly tied to cloud services, as its infrastructure spending pushed trailing free cash flow into a $42.4 billion outflow.
The total was measured Sept. 30 and relates mainly to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon's cloud computing unit. The commitments cover future service payments, rather than recorded sales, under contracts initially lasting more than one year; by value, their average remaining life was 6.1 years. How much revenue Amazon records from them, and when, depends on customer use and the company's delivery of those services.
Amazon's Oct. 29 earnings release kept its companywide 2026 cash capital spending expectation at about $220 billion, after the company had set a roughly $200 billion figure on Feb. 5. The quarterly filing said technology infrastructure, mostly for AWS, and fulfillment capacity are the primary uses of the cash budget; the $220 billion plan covers Amazon as a whole. EconoTimes previously covered Amazon's spending plan and AWS demand constraints.
Third-quarter AWS sales rose 39% from a year earlier to $46 billion, and operating income increased to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion. Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy projected AWS revenue growth above 40% in both 2027 and 2028. The growth outlook is a management projection, while the commitments describe contracted business not yet counted as revenue.
Amazon's trailing 12-month free cash flow through Sept. 30 was a $42.4 billion outflow, compared with a $14.8 billion inflow in the year-earlier period. Its earnings release attributed most of the decline to higher purchases of property and equipment, chiefly for AI. Amazon bears the current cash outlay as management anticipates continued AWS growth.
Amazon projects substantially higher cash capital spending in 2027 as it expands technology infrastructure.
