New York, Feb 25, 2026, 16:18 EST — After-hours
- Amazon shares finished roughly 1% higher, then edged down a bit in after-hours trading
- Apple and Amazon took their time removing contested contract clauses, according to Spain’s antitrust regulator.
- CEO Andy Jassy unloaded shares through a pre-arranged trading plan, according to a U.S. filing.
Amazon.com shares (AMZN) gained 1% to finish regular trading Wednesday at $210.67, before edging down roughly 0.2% after the bell.
This shift is notable: Amazon often reflects investors’ shifting attitudes toward AI—up on growth hopes, down on fears of expense or upheaval. “You’ve seen the market react to headlines, it’s ‘sell first, assess later,’” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Reuters
Tech names pulled U.S. indexes higher on Wednesday, with that familiar “buy the dip” instinct making another appearance ahead of Nvidia’s earnings. “What we’re seeing … is a bit of ‘buy on the dip’ mentality,” said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors. Reuters
Spain’s CNMC isn’t satisfied with Apple and Amazon’s pace in stripping out what it calls anti-competitive language from their contracts—the watchdog says the lag could mean more penalties. Both firms have pushed back against the findings and are challenging the July 2023 decision, which hit them with a 194 million euro ($228 million) fine, now on hold while the appeal plays out.
David Luan, who leads one of Amazon’s main AI labs, will exit the company at week’s end, according to the Financial Times. His departure puts another spotlight on how Amazon is managing to hold onto top executives amid its efforts to close the gap in “agent” software—tools able to act on a user’s behalf—and the race toward artificial general intelligence. Financial Times
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy unloaded 19,872 shares on Feb. 23, according to a regulatory filing, with the sale executed under a Rule 10b5-1 plan—those pre-set trading arrangements meant to sidestep any suspicion about trading ahead of news. The same Form 4 detailed restricted stock units converting to shares two days earlier, on Feb. 21, and put Jassy’s direct stake at 2,238,118 shares after these moves.
Bank of America’s Justin Post is sticking with his Buy call on Amazon and kept the $275 price target, citing AWS’s ramping cloud footprint and what he sees as better momentum on AI deals. But Post flagged a potential snag: he estimates “hyperscalers” are poised to drop $1.2 trillion in capex over the next two years, which he said could drive up building costs and squeeze pricing. Investing.com
Amazon’s competitive equation remains familiar. AWS is still duking it out with Microsoft’s Azure and Alphabet’s Google Cloud. On the retail side, consumer demand and shipping costs are the things to watch. Investors pull back on the stock when the spending push looks like it’s eating into short-term profit.
The risks are hard to ignore. Amazon’s stock took a hit earlier this month, after the company laid out an ambitious $200 billion capital spending plan through 2026. That sent up new questions about free cash flow and tested patience on when AI investments might actually pay off. Should AWS growth falter, or if fresh regulatory penalties land, the shares could face renewed selling pressure.
Eyes now turn to Nvidia, which is set to release its after-hours earnings later Wednesday. Salesforce and Snowflake are also on deck, with their reports expected to shed light on AI appetite and enterprise spending trends—data that could ripple into Thursday’s trading.
