Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) can borrow up to about $80 billion from 2027 to buy technology infrastructure, secured by some of the assets it buys, under a loan facility disclosed in its quarterly report for the third quarter, filed with the SEC on October 30. Borrowings are at Amazon's discretion from the first quarter of 2027 through the third quarter of 2028, carry variable rates and each matures five years after it is drawn.
The facility is capacity, not money borrowed: nothing was outstanding under it at September 30. It comes a day after Amazon reported a $42.4 billion free cash outflow over 12 months, and on top of the bonds and a $17.5 billion term loan that took its long-term debt to $180.9 billion at face value, up from $68.8 billion at the end of 2025. The Information first reported the facility.
What the filing says
Amazon describes it as one of its supplier financing arrangements "that provide for certain purchases of technology infrastructure assets." The amount is "up to approximately $80.0 billion" and "subject to variability based on the extent and timing of purchase orders and pricing terms," the 10-Q says.
Security: "We will grant a security interest in certain purchased assets in connection with the Loan Facility."
Accounting: amounts outstanding will be classified as long-term debt, and repayments reported as repayments of long-term debt.
Term: variable interest, five years from each borrowing, so the last draws would fall due in 2033.
Not named: the lenders, the supplier and the interest margin. The filing gives no more detail.
The filing describes Amazon's main existing borrowing as unsecured: its $162.5 billion of senior notes, the term loan, its $30.0 billion commercial paper programs and its $20.0 billion of revolving credit facilities, the last two undrawn at September 30. It does not describe its $864 million of other long-term debt, its short-term borrowings or its finance leases that way.
How big $80 billion is for Amazon
The facility equals 36% of the roughly $220 billion of cash capital spending Amazon expects for 2026, and 48% of the $168.3 billion of cash its operations produced in the 12 months to September, by SaasBuzz's calculation from the filing. In the third quarter alone, Amazon spent $77.3 billion on property and equipment, 1.8 times the $42.4 billion its operations brought in. The facility is about one such quarter of spending.
Spread evenly across its seven quarters, a fully used facility would come to about $11.4 billion a quarter. That is an illustration, not a forecast: Amazon says the amount depends on orders and prices.
Amazon has already borrowed heavily this year. It received $115.1 billion from long-term debt in the first nine months, $48.1 billion of it in the third quarter, its cash flow statement shows.
Borrowing in 2026 | $B | Due |
|---|---|---|
March notes, US dollar | 37.0 | 2028 to 2076 |
March notes, euro | 16.4 | 2028 to 2064 |
May notes, Swiss franc | 3.4 | 2029 to 2051 |
June notes, Canadian dollar | 9.8 | 2029 to 2056 |
July notes, US dollar | 25.0 | 2029 to 2066 |
September notes, sterling | 5.6 | 2029 to 2045 |
Term loan, unsecured | 17.5 | 2029 |
Secured facility, from 2027 | Up to 80.0 | 5 years per draw |
Source: Amazon's 10-Q for the third quarter of 2026, Note 5. Notes at face value in dollars on September 30. Nothing was drawn on the secured facility at that date.
Notes and the term loan issued in 2026 total $114.8 billion. With the full facility, Amazon's borrowing arranged since January would reach $194.8 billion. Beyond its balance sheet, Amazon also lists $159.6 billion of commitments to buy property and equipment and $164.9 billion of leases signed but not yet started.
What Amazon and the market are saying
Amazon's results release on October 29 said the free cash outflow was "driven primarily by a year-over-year increase of $94.8 billion in purchases of property and equipment," which "primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence." In the 10-Q, the company said its cash, operating cash flow and "borrowing arrangements and other financing activities, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating cash needs for at least the next twelve months." It said nothing more about the facility.
The filing landed on a day of selling in technology shares. In a report published at 8:08 a.m. ET on Friday, CNN had the Nasdaq Composite down 2.5% and Amazon shares down 4%, as Big Tech's results revived doubts about returns on AI spending. A later CNBC report, last updated at 11:43 a.m. ET, had Amazon down about 1%. "Investors don't just want capex, they want to see the returns already," Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo Markets, said in a note quoted by CNN.
What it means for software buyers and investors
Amazon is not alone in borrowing for AI. Alphabet, Amazon and Meta raised $296.6 billion of debt over the 12 months to September, and Microsoft priced its first US investment-grade bond since 2017 on October 29, $25 billion. Our analysis of the four companies' filings found that Amazon was the only one whose capital spending passed its operating cash over that period.
What is new here is the form. The bonds and the term loan are unsecured promises from Amazon as a whole; this facility is tied to the technology infrastructure it pays for, with Amazon granting a security interest in certain of the purchased assets and the amount moving with Amazon's own purchase orders. Amazon is lining up money for 2027 and 2028 while its 2026 spending already runs ahead of its operating cash.
For AWS customers, the filing points the same way as the release: Amazon is still adding capacity, with borrowing to pay for it arranged through 2028. For investors, the cost is more debt. Long-term debt at face value is 2.6 times what it was in December, and a fully used facility would add $80 billion more, against $114.2 billion of cash and marketable securities at September 30.
