Amazon investors eye swelling cash pile with stock near record

Amazon had more than $86bn (€79.1bn) in cash at the end of 2023

For most of its three decades in existence, Amazon has opted to plow its cash back into the business. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

For years, Amazon.com has been the stingiest among tech megacaps to give back capital to shareholders. Now, it’s generating so much cash that some on Wall Street are anticipating more generous returns.

After a record haul of $32bn (€29.4bn) in free cash flow last year, Amazon is projected to nearly double that in 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With Big Tech acquisitions increasingly facing regulatory opposition, Amazon has fewer options on how it chooses to deploy that cash, according to Robert Schiffman, a senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.