Amazon capex tops $77 billion as AWS revenue rises 39%

Amazon spent more than $77 billion on data centers, AI servers, warehouses and other capital projects in the third quarter, above expectations. AWS revenue was $45.98 billion, up 39% from a year earlier and the fastest growth rate in nearly five years, the company said.

Amazon reported $201.9 billion in revenue, missing expectations on revenue and earnings per share. It guided fourth-quarter retail sales below expectations and shares fell 7% after the report. The company kept full-year capex at about $220 billion, the range first shared in July.

For owners of build-to-suit or leased hyperscale capacity, the tenant's cash flow is the credit question: Amazon's trailing-12-month free cash flow swung to negative $42.4 billion from positive $14.8 billion a year earlier.

AWS operating income was $17.8 billion, up from $11.4 billion a year earlier.

Microsoft reported free cash flow of $18.63 billion and its shares rose. Google's cash flow turned negative and its shares fell further than Amazon's. Microsoft's capex of $45.2 billion landed below the $50.7 billion expected, as Private Infrastructure Daily previously reported.

At the full-year plan of about $220 billion, Amazon's other three quarters would average below $48 billion after a third quarter above $77 billion. The fourth-quarter report will show whether the range holds.