**Amazon's 2026 capital expenditure guidance stands at approximately $220 billion in cash capex, raised in late July 2026 from an initial $200 billion target due to elevated memory chip costs.** This figure primarily funds AWS data center expansion, servers, networking, and AI infrastructure amid accelerating customer demand. Quarterly cash capex reached $53.1 billion in Q2 2026, contributing to a trailing twelve-month total near $169 billion, with AWS accounting for the large majority of property and equipment additions. Strong AWS momentum underpins the elevated spending: revenue grew 37% year-over-year in Q2—the fastest pace in 18 quarters—reaching a $169 billion annualized run rate, while the contract backlog expanded to $496 billion. Management has stated that even this level of outlays will fall short of meeting all demand in 2026 and likely 2027, with most 2027 capacity already reserved and portions of 2028 spoken for. Higher component costs and the need to double power capacity by end-2027 relative to 2025 continue to support the ramp. Free cash flow turned negative on a trailing twelve-month basis (–$7.6 billion) as capex outpaced operating cash flow growth. Q3 results, expected in late October, will provide the latest visibility into spending pace and any potential adjustments. The trajectory hinges on sustained AI workload growth, memory and supply dynamics, and execution on data center buildouts already in progress.