Aslan Research · Cloud & platforms
AMAZON COM INC (AMZN)
Data as of 2026-08-21 · 28 quarters · filed in USD
Committed obligations are growing faster than both revenue and expenses: committed money rose 25% per year, versus 16% for revenue and 10% for expenses. Trailing-year revenue was $775.7 billion against $432.4 billion of expenses, giving the commitments a large operating base for scale.
Earned, collected early, and merely signed
Reports $129B of debt; has promised $226B
Leases add $96.3 billion to the $129.2 billion of reported debt. Total committed money therefore reaches $225.5 billion, or 1.7x reported debt.
What the promised total is made of, latest quarter
Spending, by reported line
When the promises come due
The next five years bring $436.3 billion of commitments against $138.0 billion of future revenue promised for that period. That means due commitments are 3.2x the revenue already promised.
The rates that matter
Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation
9 patterns worth a second look
The sharpest flagged item is the $75.021 billion of leases not yet commenced, alongside build-to-suit arrangements outside current lease liabilities. Other flags include a $3.1 billion operating-income effect tied to a useful-life estimate change and approximately $700 million of severance and contract-termination costs tied to Q3 2023. Post-period investments tied to OpenAI and Anthropic were $21.3 billion and $5.0 billion, respectively.
circular financing · 1
The filings report Amazon financing sellers through its seller lending program while also reporting seller receivables and seller activity as part of the commercial platform.
off balance sheet · 1
The filings repeatedly disclose substantial leases not yet commenced and build-to-suit arrangements outside current lease liabilities.
one time dressing · 2
The FY2022 filing reports a $3.1 billion operating-income effect from a change in estimated useful lives, a discrete accounting estimate change presented alongside operating performance.
The Q3 2023 filing reports approximately $700 million of severance and contract-termination costs as period expenses.
redefinition · 1
The filings change the scope and labeling of future-service commitments from primarily AWS services to AWS and other services, while the reported amounts continue to rise.
related party exposure · 1
The filings report continuing material equity exposure to Rivian, including approximately 15%–18% ownership and voting interests.
subsequent event · 2
The FY2025 filing reports a subsequent conversion of Anthropic notes expected to produce an approximately $3 billion gain and a $12 billion upward adjustment to preferred stock in Q1 2026.
The Q2 2026 filing reports post-period investments of $21.3 billion in OpenAI and $5.0 billion in Anthropic after the reporting date.
value revision · 1
The diluted-share revisions are substantive rather than clerical because the reported values change from approximately 510–515 million to approximately 10.2–10.3 billion.