Key points
- Amazon sets up a secured loan of up to $80 billion
- Amazon's long-term debt has more than doubled this year
- Amazon's bank agreements address disputed vendor debt
Amazon (AMZN) has set up a secured loan facility of up to about $80 billion to pay for technology infrastructure it buys from suppliers, according to its third-quarter 10-Q filed on October 30. Amazon can borrow under the facility from the first quarter of 2027 through the third quarter of 2028, and it will pledge some of the equipment it buys as collateral.
The Information reported the loan earlier on October 30. Amazon shares closed at $240.35 that day, down 1.4%.
The filing describes the facility as one of Amazon's supplier financing arrangements, which pay for certain purchases of technology infrastructure assets. It doesn't name the lenders or the suppliers, or say what equipment Amazon plans to buy.
Amazon will put up the equipment as collateral
Amazon can borrow at its own discretion, and the amount will depend on the timing of its purchase orders and on pricing terms. Each borrowing carries a variable interest rate and comes due five years after Amazon takes it.
A secured loan gives the lender a claim on specific assets if the borrower doesn't repay. Here, Amazon said it will grant a security interest in certain purchased assets. The money it borrows will show up as long-term debt on its balance sheet.
Amazon's other debt and credit lines are unsecured. That includes a $17.5 billion term loan and $20 billion of revolving credit lines, which had nothing drawn on September 30, the filing shows. Every Amazon bond sale on our AI debt tracker is also senior unsecured debt.
That distinction matters to Amazon's bondholders. If Amazon couldn't repay, lenders under the new facility would generally have priority over unsecured bondholders when it comes to the pledged equipment. Borrowing under the facility doesn't start until 2027.
Amazon's long-term debt has more than doubled this year
The face value of Amazon's long-term debt was $180.9 billion on September 30, up from $68.8 billion at the end of 2025. Amazon sold $37 billion of US dollar bonds in March and $25 billion more in July. It also sold bonds in euros, Canadian dollars, Swiss francs, and British pounds.
The $17.5 billion term loan came from a group of banks in June. Amazon drew all of it by September 30, and it's due in September 2029. Amazon had $114.2 billion of cash and marketable securities at the end of September, down from $123.0 billion at the end of 2025.
The borrowing comes alongside a much bigger buildout. Amazon spent $75.9 billion on property and equipment in the third quarter, up from $34.2 billion a year earlier. Its operations brought in $42.4 billion, which left it with negative free cash flow of $33.5 billion for the quarter. Amazon expects about $220 billion of cash capital spending this year.
Amazon's new bank agreements address disputed vendor debt
On October 27, Amazon replaced its two revolving credit lines with new unsecured ones of $15 billion and $5 billion, with Citibank as administrative agent. It also amended the term loan to match the new agreements' rules on liens and cross-defaults.
The new agreements define vendor financing as borrowed money used to buy goods when the lender is the seller of those goods or one of its affiliates. If that kind of debt is accelerated while Amazon disputes it in good faith, that doesn't trigger the bank agreements' cross-default clause. The filing doesn't say whether the $80 billion facility counts as vendor financing under that definition.
Amazon has looked at other ways to pay for chips. Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Amazon was exploring a deal to move about $8 billion of Nvidia chips into a vehicle funded by outside investors and lease them back.
