In a significant capital markets move, Amazon secured $15 billion through a bond issuance on November 17, 2025, marking its first dollar-denominated debt offering in three years. The transaction notably exceeded initial expectations; while the company had planned to raise $12 billion, overwhelming investor appetite saw orders peak at approximately $80 billion. This substantial debt financing raises a pivotal question: why would a cash-rich e-commerce and cloud leader require such extensive external funding? The answer lies squarely in the intensely competitive and capital-intensive race for dominance in artificial intelligence.
Amazon is not alone in leveraging debt markets to fuel its ambitions. This strategy is echoed across the tech industry. In October 2025, Meta Platforms issued a monumental $30 billion in bonds. Similarly, Alphabet raised $25 billion from American and European debt markets, and Oracle joined the trend with an $18 billion issuance in September. This collective action underscores a sector-wide, insatiable demand for capital to build out AI infrastructure.
According to estimates from Morgan Stanley, major technology firms are projected to inject a staggering $400 billion into AI-related infrastructure during 2025. Amazon's share of this expenditure is colossal, with anticipated capital spending around $125 billion, a figure expected to grow further in 2026. The company is in the process of doubling its data center capacity, which has already expanded twofold since 2022. CEO Andy Jassy has publicly targeted another doubling by 2027. The driving force behind this expansion is the unprecedented computational power required for advanced artificial intelligence, necessitating hundreds of thousands of specialized processors from suppliers like Nvidia, massive data centers, and the immense power infrastructure to support them.
Adding strategic significance to its fundraising, Amazon recently unveiled a major $38 billion partnership with OpenAI. This seven-year agreement grants the ChatGPT developer extensive access to Nvidia GPUs through Amazon's cloud division, AWS. This is more than a simple client contract; it represents a strategic offensive to reclaim market leadership in the cloud AI space, directly challenging rivals Microsoft and Google.
Simultaneously, AWS is demonstrating renewed vigor. The division reported a 20.2% year-over-year revenue increase in the third quarter, representing its most robust growth in eleven consecutive quarters. AWS now operates at an annualized revenue run rate of $132 billion, supported by a substantial backlog of $200 billion -- a figure that notably excludes several major deals announced in October.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Amazon?
Analysts at JPMorgan characterized the timing of Amazon's bond issue as "favorable." Historically, the company has relied predominantly on internal cash flows to finance its investments. This strategic pivot to significant external debt for the first time in years signals the profound seriousness and scale of Amazon's commitment to capturing the AI opportunity.
Despite enthusiastic reception from bond investors, equity holders have reacted with noticeable apprehension. Amazon's stock price declined by 4.43% on November 18, extending a losing streak to five consecutive trading days. Pre-market activity showed a further drop of 1.37%, contributing to a total loss exceeding 10% over a ten-day period.
This market nervousness is understandable. Massive capital investments typically pressure profit margins and can delay near-term profitability, even when the long-term strategic rationale is sound. While Amazon's fundamental position in the cloud and AI sectors remains strong, some market experts have pointed to emerging technical warning signals in its stock performance.
The overarching narrative is clear: Amazon is accelerating its debt accumulation at a record pace to ensure it remains a frontrunner in what is arguably the most expensive technological arms race in history. The return on this multi-billion dollar wager will unfold over the coming years, ultimately determining which entities will control the foundational infrastructure of the AI era.