Stock Market Today, Feb. 6: Amazon Falls After $200 Billion AI and Cloud Spending Plan Raises Cash Flow Concerns
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which operates a global e-commerce platform and cloud computing services, closed Friday at $210.32, down 5.55%. The stock fell after management outlined plans for roughly $200 billion in 2026 capital expenditures focused on AI and cloud infrastructure.
Trading volume reached 178.4 million shares, about 306% above its three-month average of 43.9 million shares. Amazon IPO'd in 1997 and has grown 214,694% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 added 1.94% to finish Friday at 6,930, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.18% to close at 23,031. Within e-commerce and cloud computing, industry peers Alibaba Group closed at $162.49, up 3.00%, and Walmart finished at $131.18, rising 3.34%, outpacing Amazon’s decline.
What this means for investors
Amazon stock slid nearly 6% today after delivering mixed earnings that came up shy of Wall Street’s consensus. However, the figure that stole the show was the company’s plan to spend roughly $200 billion on capex for AWS and other AI initiatives. The sheer size of this spending spooked the market today.
That said, investors should not panic -- by any means. Sales and operating cash flow grew by 12% and 20% in Q4. Best yet, Amazon’s custom AI chips business grew by triple digits and reached $10 billion in sales, while its AWS backlog grew 40%. Yes, $200 billion is an unfathomable amount of capex, but Amazon’s long-term track record of reinvesting almost all its cash in its growth isn’t one I’m about to start betting against.
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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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