SEATTLE, August 29, 2026, 08:55 (PDT).
- Amazon closed Friday at $266.43, up 3.97%, on 49.55 million shares.
- The gain added about $110 billion of equity value.
- Trailing-12-month free cash flow swung to a $7.6 billion outflow as AI investment accelerated.
Amazon shares jumped 3.97% on Friday, adding roughly $110 billion of market value. Investors rewarded its AI exposure even as that buildout consumed more cash.
The stock closed at $266.43 after reaching $267.56. Volume was 49.55 million shares, almost equal to its 65-day average MarketWatch.
Amazon.com, Inc. NASDAQ: AMZN led the megacap technology group. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.52%, leaving Amazon ahead by 4.49 percentage points.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh helped the move. He said artificial-intelligence growth had been faster than even its proponents expected. Amazon was up about 4.1% after the remarks market coverage.
| Megacap | Friday move | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon AMZN | +3.97% | $2.87 trillion |
| Microsoft MSFT | +1.68% | $3.75 trillion |
| Apple AAPL | +1.63% | $4.59 trillion |
| Meta META | +1.21% | $1.45 trillion |
| Nvidia NVDA | −4.57% | — |
The enthusiasm rests on Amazon Web Services. AWS sales rose 37% to $42.2 billion in the second quarter. Operating income reached $16.6 billion, or 60% of Amazon’s total company results.
AWS produced a 39.3% segment operating margin. Its AI and chip businesses each exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate. Chief Executive Andy Jassy said both were growing at triple-digit rates.
The cost is visible in cash flow. Operating cash flow rose 33% to $161.4 billion over 12 months. Free cash flow nevertheless fell from an $18.2 billion inflow to a $7.6 billion outflow.
Amazon linked that reversal to property and equipment purchases. Those expenditures increased by $66.1 billion, primarily because of AI investment. The gap is now the central valuation test.
Second-quarter sales rose 20% to $200.6 billion. Operating income increased 43% to $27.5 billion. However, $53.4 billion of non-operating income, mainly tied to Anthropic, inflated the $62.6 billion net profit.
Management expects third-quarter operating income of $22.5 billion to $26.5 billion. The midpoint is 11% below the second quarter. That suggests investment pressure will remain visible.
Analysts still see upside. Sixty analysts tracked by Investing.com had an average target near $327.67 on August 29, about 23% above Friday’s close consensus estimates.
Risks: AI demand could slow before data-center assets reach full utilization. Higher rates also raise the hurdle for long-duration spending, while retail margins remain exposed to labor and shipping costs.
Friday’s rally priced Amazon as an AI winner. The next phase requires its $169 billion AWS run rate to rebuild free cash flow, not merely expand capacity.
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