Amazon's $364 billion backlog is the bull case for its AI spending boom

Amazon (AMZN) has an reply for investors questioning its monolithic spending connected artificial intelligence: Demand for its unreality concern is surging.

The company’s unreality backlog — aboriginal concern Amazon has already contracted but has not yet turned into gross — jumped to $364 cardinal successful the archetypal quarter, CEO Andy Jassy said connected the company’s net call.

And that fig doesn’t see Amazon’s precocious announced Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) woody for much than $100 billion.

The summation is simply a crisp leap from the $244 cardinal successful unreality backlog Amazon disclosed astatine the extremity of the 4th quarter. Back then, investors were inactive digesting the company’s astir $200 cardinal superior spending program for 2026.

The backlog is the cardinal counterpoint to the cash-flow unit that showed up successful Amazon’s archetypal 4th results. The institution is spending heavy connected information centers, chips, servers, and different infrastructure earlier it tin cod the gross from that capacity.

Jassy made that timing spread explicit connected the net call, saying AWS has to laic retired currency for “land, power, buildings, chips, servers, and networking gear” earlier it tin monetize that spending. “Typically six to 24 months earlier we commencement [billing] customers,” helium said.

But helium besides pushed backmost connected the thought that Amazon is gathering without visibility.

Jassy said determination is “reasonable breadth” successful the backlog — reported by Amazon arsenic “remaining show obligations” — and that it is “not conscionable 1 lawsuit oregon 2 customers.”

That makes backlog the fig to ticker aft Amazon’s earnings. If those contracts crook into gross accelerated enough, the AI spending roar looks similar a maturation investment.

Amazon’s caller intraday grounds precocious connected Thursday suggests investors are giving the institution country to beryllium it.