Amazon’s latest 2026 cash capex guidance of approximately $220 billion, raised from $200 billion during its July Q2 earnings call, reflects elevated memory costs and sustained AI-driven demand for AWS infrastructure. Management cited a $496 billion backlog and 36.7% year-over-year AWS revenue growth while noting that even this level leaves capacity short of customer needs through 2027. Historical ramping—from $53 billion in 2023 to roughly $132 billion in 2025—has already pressured free cash flow into negative territory, with data-center outlays typically preceding monetization by about two years. Traders monitoring the market should track upcoming Q3 results and any further revisions tied to chip pricing, power constraints, or additional large-scale commitments.