NEW YORK, Feb 24, 2026, 06:46 EST — Premarket
- Amazon dropped 2.3% on Monday, finishing the session at $205.27 a share.
- The company highlighted a planned $12 billion data center expansion in Louisiana, part of its spending push set for 2026.
- Nvidia’s earnings hit Wednesday, with investors watching closely for signals on the AI infrastructure trade.
Amazon.com, Inc. shares slipped 2.3% to $205.27 on Monday, after the company laid out plans for a $12 billion data-center project in Louisiana. The move underscores Big Tech’s aggressive push into AI infrastructure.
The stock has dropped 9.4% this year. Heading into Tuesday’s open, investors are still pressing the basic question: how much longer do shareholders bankroll the expansion before any returns actually show up.
Amazon has slotted the northwest Louisiana development into its beefed-up 2026 capital spending plan, targeting around $200 billion in capex—money typically allocated to big-ticket assets like data centers—compared with $131 billion for 2025. When asked if the Louisiana investment was included in that sum, a company spokesperson pointed out, “We regularly make investment announcements at the federal, state, and local level and those investments often occur over many years.” 1
What started as a quiet debate is now front and center. Bridgewater Associates is projecting Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft will pour roughly $650 billion into AI infrastructure this year—well above the $410 billion they’re set to commit in 2025. Greg Jensen, Bridgewater’s co-chief investment officer, called the latest phase of the boom “more dangerous,” warning, “Compute demand continues to significantly outpace supply.” 2
Amazon plans to add 540 full-time positions with its Louisiana expansion, along with jobs for electricians and HVAC technicians. Facing resistance in some areas over the strain data centers place on utilities, the company has committed $400 million to local water infrastructure.
Broader market sentiment was no friend here. The S&P 500 dropped 1.0% Monday, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.1%. Jitters over tariffs and questions swirling around AI’s ripple effects unsettled investors. “Tomorrow evening’s Nvidia release might be the next big story,” ING strategist Chris Turner wrote. 3
Wednesday’s Nvidia numbers are now a touchstone for the AI capex trade. Chip demand lands straight in the cloud infrastructure at giants like Amazon. “This earnings in particular is important because people are so concerned about AI spending – whether we’re in a bubble,” Ivana Delevska, chief investment officer at Spear Invest—which owns Nvidia through an ETF—told Reuters. 4
Amazon’s immediate question is whether its heavy spending will actually stick as lasting growth in AWS. Investors, meanwhile, are watching to see if Amazon can keep pouring money in without shaking confidence—especially among those who’d rather see buybacks or a smoother free cash flow line.
Still, a lot could derail things. The data-center surge faces actual limits: power, water, permits, pushback from local communities. None of this assures profits, especially if AI appetite drops off or cloud firms lose their edge on pricing.
