New York, June 1, 2026, 19:02 (EDT)
- Amazon dropped roughly 3.5%, trailing gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500.
- Anthropic’s confidential IPO filing put Amazon’s AI position and its AWS ties back in the spotlight.
- Capital expenditure is still the top concern for investors, mainly spending on data centers, chips, and other infrastructure.
Amazon.com shares fell Monday, moving lower while other tech names rallied. Investors are watching the company’s big AI spending, even as its relationship with Anthropic offers some upside.
Amazon shares were last trading at $261.26, off $9.42 from the previous close, as more than 53 million shares changed hands. The latest move puts the company’s market cap at about $2.84 trillion.
Stocks moved in different directions. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.42% and the S&P 500 added 0.26%, both hitting new closing highs. Tech shares and hope for AI hardware gave support. Microsoft rose after Nvidia showed off a new AI chip for PCs, putting it up as a cloud rival to Amazon Web Services. The Dow was little changed.
Anthropic is in focus after the AI firm said Monday that it confidentially filed for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said the size and timing of the IPO would depend on market conditions and other factors.
Amazon isn’t passive when it comes to Anthropic. In its latest quarterly filing, Amazon reported holding $42.2 billion in Anthropic convertible notes and $32.0 billion in nonvoting preferred stock as of March 31. It put in an additional $5.0 billion after the quarter closed. The filing also mentions a commercial AWS arrangement with Anthropic and a financing facility for up to $20.0 billion, subject to reaching certain compute-capacity goals.
Amazon picks up two things here: a piece of a top AI firm, and a cloud customer that could push more business to AWS. The deal also ties Amazon’s stock more closely to worries over how much cash it will put in before AI starts delivering steadier returns.
Amazon posted first-quarter results that bulls can point to. Net sales were up 17% to $181.5 billion, while AWS revenue climbed 28% to $37.6 billion. Net income got a $16.8 billion pre-tax boost from investments tied to Anthropic. But free cash flow dropped to $1.2 billion for the trailing year as spending on property and equipment jumped, mostly for AI.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company is seeing solid growth, pointing to strong customer demand when Amazon reported earnings. Jassy said AWS is now growing faster than it has in 15 quarters. He also said Amazon’s chips unit reached a $20 billion annual revenue run rate.
Wall Street is still focused on the spending numbers. Bank of America strategists led by Savita Subramanian said tech capex is the biggest surprise this year and called it “bullish for AI semis, but a draw on free cash for the spenders.” They said investors should stick with “capex takers” like semiconductor and hardware names, and stay away from the crowded AI spenders where macro risks are getting bigger. Business Insider
Cloud giants are feeling the impact. Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet keep chasing AI customers, but the market is splitting buyers of chips and data center power from the firms selling that capacity. On Monday, Microsoft shares gained, while Alphabet and Amazon slipped. It’s a sign the AI trade isn’t acting as a single block right now.
Anthropic’s filing brings a valuation test with it. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the step “an opening of the floodgates for the IPO market.” Patrick Corrigan, a Notre Dame law professor focused on IPOs, said public investors probably would put Anthropic and OpenAI side by side “roughly around the same time.” AP News
Amazon faces risks if AI demand drops or data-center expenses keep climbing, or if customers put off big cloud deals. That could mean Amazon ends up with heavier depreciation and weaker free cash flow for longer than investors expect. CEO Andy Jassy said returns on AI infrastructure look better over time, but he’s also said when capital spending jumps ahead of revenue, “the early years, free cash flow is challenged.” Business Insider
Amazon isn’t the only mover on the screens. Traders are watching for Friday’s U.S. jobs data and Broadcom earnings later this week to get a read on rates and AI server buying. For its part, Amazon guided to second-quarter net sales between $194 billion and $199 billion, factoring in Prime Day for the period.
Amazon shares face a test on two fronts. Investors want to see strong cash from retail and advertising, plus signs AWS can convert AI spending into profits before patience runs out. Monday’s drop signaled the market still has doubts.
