Amazon towards a maxi issue: $12 billion bond ready

Amazon is preparing a bond market operation: it aims to raise around USD 12 billion through an issue in six tranches. This is the first time since 2022 that the group has returned to financing itself in US dollars. The proceeds, according to Bloomberg, will be used for various purposes: acquisitions, capex for artificial intelligence (Ai) and share buybacks. The transaction is being managed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. According to initial rumours, the 40-year tranche is expected to yield around 115 basis points above Treasuries.

Beyond this transaction, it is clear that the hyperscaler's corporate bond race continues. The Seattle giant is in fact in the wake of the other big tech companies: in recent weeks Alphabet has placed 25 billion, Meta has closed a 30 billion structured issue (up to 80% bond) and Oracle has raised 18 billion. Without forgetting, moreover, that Elon Musk's xAI itself is on the hunt - according to Barron's - for another 20 billion through a special purpose vehicle.

This is a context in which, according to some experts, global corporate issuance by the end of the year could exceed EUR 6 trillion. While, for next year, JPMorgan predicts a new record in the United States: 1,810 billion in investment-grade issues. Apart from forecasts, which always leave a little to be desired, it must be emphasised that Amazon (whose founder Bezos is back as CEO with the start-up Project Prometheus) is stepping up its investments in the artificial intelligence sector, like Oracle, Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet. In this sense, the company is the leading global player in cloud services: according to Statista, in the third quarter of 2025 the e-commerce giant's cloud computing has 29% of the market share, well ahead of Microsoft Azure (20%) and Google Cloud (13%). The top three providers together account for over 60% of the industry, leaving competitors (Oracle has 3% behind Alibaba's 4%) marginal percentages.

In such a context - where indebtedness is the effect of large infrastructural investments for Ai - it is easy to understand why the market is moving forward with 'cold feet'. Historically, large platforms have been able to sustain capital expenditures by leveraging the solid cash flows generated by operating activities. However, the current outlays required by Artificial Intelligence's leap in scale are rapidly eroding this capacity. According to Bank of America's most recent analysis, hyperscalers used, on average, 72% of their operating cash flow to finance Capex. And the trajectory looks set to rise. Projections for 2026 speak of over USD 500 billion in digital infrastructure spending, with market consensus indicating that cash flow absorption could exceed 90 per cent in the coming years. Added to this scenario is a critical variable: the risk of cross-investments, such as those between big tech and OpenAI, fuelling a partly self-generated demand. Faced with these signals, investors adopt a more selective and cautious approach: in order to obtain credit, companies must offer higher premiums on issued debt. Thus it is not surprising that the Cds of these giants have, in the last month, jumped upwards.