New York, Feb 13, 2026, 10:12 EST — Regular session
Amazon.com shares slipped again on Friday, down 0.7% at $198.17, deepening a selloff that’s now dragged the stock more than 20% off its recent peak—a level some traders use to signal a bear market. Thursday’s close was $199.60. That’s eight straight down sessions for Amazon.
Timing is key here. Wall Street hasn’t yet figured out how much profit—if there is any—will emerge from the newest AI expansion before the costs start piling up. “We see this as a ‘prove it’ year for AI. We need to start seeing some return on investments,” said Jack Herr, primary investment analyst at GuideStone Funds, speaking Thursday as tech shares tumbled across the board. Reuters
Amazon is right in the thick of that debate, with its capex forecast for 2026 landing around $200 billion—funds earmarked for data centers, chips, and other infrastructure. For 2025, management is looking at $131 billion in capital spending, a leap that’s pulled investor scrutiny back to cash flow and just how quickly cloud demand feeds into profits.
Investors aren’t talking about the AI trade as a single, unstoppable force anymore; now, it’s more of a company-by-company brawl. “You’ve clearly seen that breakdown in terms of the monolithic AI trade,” said Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions. Yung‑Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at PNC Financial Services, describes it as “an open question” whether firms are overspending, though he thinks some of the gloom could lift. Reuters
Little movement from the broader market at the open on Friday. Wall Street’s key indexes hovered close to unchanged, with softer U.S. inflation data doing just enough to sustain hopes for Fed rate cuts later this year.
It was a split for peers in early action—Microsoft picked up 0.3%. Alphabet dropped 0.8%, and Meta slid 1.1%, keeping with the recent selloff pattern.
Amazon grabbed attention in Europe after Italian tax police raided its Milan offices, plus the residences of seven managers, amid a fresh tax evasion probe, according to Reuters. Prosecutors’ approach was “aggressive and wholly disproportionate,” Amazon said, adding it remains in “transparent dialogue” with Italian tax authorities. Reuters
Europe’s bigger Ariane 6 rocket took off on its debut flight, delivering 32 satellites for Amazon’s Leo constellation into low Earth orbit, according to Reuters. The launch kicks off a slate of 18 Ariane 6 missions lined up for the constellation.
Still, one thing keeps weighing on this stock: heavy spending up front, with uncertain rewards down the line. Should cloud growth hit a lull or if Wall Street suspects the capex binge drags on, Amazon’s short-term cash story could stay out of favor. Legal or tax news can also rattle sentiment just when it’s least convenient.
Traders are zeroed in on whether the AI rally can steady itself heading into the next major earnings event. Nvidia is on deck to release its results Feb. 25—a date closely watched for clues on data-center appetite and the staying power of AI infrastructure spending.
