What is Amazon’s free cash flow in 2026?

Amazon’s growth over the past three decades has been phenomenal. The company initially started out selling books online at the start of the internet boom in the mid-1990s, but its online marketplace now offers millions of goods, from clothing to electronics to groceries and household essentials.

The world’s biggest online retailer has also expanded into other businesses, namely in cloud computing and artificial intelligence — the latest trend in tech.

Growing its massive everyday relevance in retail and media while maintaining its dominance in cloud computing requires major investment and cash outlays.

Here’s how much free cash flow Amazon has in 2026 and how it spends its money.

What is Amazon’s free cash flow in 2026? 

Amazon has generated billions of dollars in cash in recent years. Free cash flow — the amount of cash that remains after covering operating expenses and capital expenditures — is a major indicator of how much Amazon generates and how it spends that cash. 

In 2025, Amazon generated $139.5 billion in cash from its operating activities. From that, the company spent $128 billion on purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives.

That left Amazon with $11.19 billion in free cash flow.

Related: Amazon’s stock buybacks explained

Free cash flow has fluctuated over the years, peaking at $38.2 billion in 2024, which was on top of the $36.8 billion in 2023. Still, in some years, Amazon spent more than it generated. In 2022, the company had negative cash flow amounting to $11.5 billion and $9 billion in 2021.

Source: Amazon

How much cash does Amazon have in 2026? 

Cash and cash equivalents are a measure of how liquid a company is — that is, how much cash it has on hand to make immediate payments. Amazon’s cash has climbed steadily each year, just as its revenue has. 

In 2025, Amazon posted record cash and cash equivalents of $86.8 billion, on all-time sales of $717 billion and net income of $77.7 billion.  

Source: Amazon

How does Amazon spend its cash?

Most of the cash Amazon generates is reinvested in what the company says are its “rapidly evolving and intensely competitive” businesses.

Its free cash flow fell to $11 billion at the end of 2025 from $38 billion in 2024, driven primarily by a year-over-year increase of $50.7 billion in purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives, the company said in its 2025 annual report. T

hat spending focused on its AI business. Amazon has a generative AI platform geared mainly toward commercial businesses.

Spending was also likely for logistics and data centers. By one measure, the total footage on property it leased and owned — which covers office space, physical stores, fulfillment centers, and data centers — jumped by almost 75% to 819,676 square footage in 2025 from 474,516 square footage in 2020.

More on Amazon:

• Is Amazon a good long-term investment? Its buy-and-hold prospects explained
• Amazon’s dividends and stock splits: What you need to know
• Where are Amazon’s headquarters? Seattle and beyond
• Who owns Amazon? Top executives and institutional investors
• How many employees does Amazon have in 2026? Its workforce explained

Why doesn’t Amazon conserve its cash?

At the moment, Amazon is in competition with many companies in building AI as well as expanding its cloud computing operations. Amazon believes that advancements in AI are moving quickly, and the company has been making significant investments. 

In Amazon’s annual report, CEO Andy Jassy said, “Amazon is smack in the middle of this land rush, and companies are choosing AWS for AI.” He wrote that AWS had a revenue run rate — projected revenue based on current revenue — of $58 million in 2009 and that run rate had multiplied significantly to over $15 billion in the first quarter of 2026.

As AWS grows, the company will have to spend more on capital expenditure in the short term, which is why its free cash flow was low in 2025, and that means spending for land, power, buildings, chips, servers, and networking gear.

How much debt does Amazon have?

Not unlike other corporations, Amazon carries more debt than cash. It may be better for the company to borrow to finance its operations at a favorable interest rate than it would be to issue stock. 

In 2025, its net debt — total debt minus cash and cash equivalents — was $320 billion, which was nine times the amount in 2015. Total debt included current liabilities and long-term liabilities.

Source: Amazon

Related: History of Amazon: From garage startup to tech titan