February 6, 2026
Alexa, play ‘Despacito’ (for stocks)
Amazon plunge continues $1T wipeout as AI bubble fears ignite sell-off
Investors balk at $200B splurge as commenters yell 'bubble' and meme the crash
TLDR: Amazon’s stock slid as it unveiled a massive $200B plan for AI spending, part of a $1T tech sell‑off. Commenters split between calling it a bubble, blaming overpriced stocks, and questioning whether Amazon’s retail or its cloud really matters—while memeing Apple’s quieter strategy as the surprise winner.
Amazon shares plunged again as the company vowed a jaw‑dropping $200 billion spending spree on artificial intelligence by 2026—way above what Wall Street expected. Commenters didn’t hold back: some blasted the move as “AI theater”, others said the real bubble isn’t robots, it’s prices outrunning profits. One cynic sighed, “They always say it’s about ‘AI,’ but it never is,” while another cheered investors for “punishing misallocation.”
The wider carnage—over $1 trillion erased from the tech elite in a week—had the internet in popcorn mode. The split: Meta and Google got applause for their plans, while Amazon and Microsoft got the stick. Apple, spending far less on shiny AI toys, popped 7% and instantly became the community’s “be like Apple” meme.
Underneath the drama, a fight brewed over what actually matters at Amazon. One camp asked if Wall Street even cares about the retail side—big revenue, small profit—versus the cloud business (AWS) where the real money lives. Fresh analyst warnings piled on, claiming AWS is losing its edge and fretting that chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini could reshape shopping. Meanwhile, jokesters begged for a silver lining: “At least maybe memory prices will calm down.”
For receipts, users shared a Yahoo report on the $200B plan here. The vibe? Fear, snark, and a lot of ‘I told you so.’
Key Points
- •Amazon’s stock fell over 9% after it projected much higher AI-related capital expenditures, including a capex target of $200 billion in 2026.
- •Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta reported about $120 billion in capex in Q4; 2024 capex could exceed $660 billion, per the Financial Times.
- •Market reactions diverged: investors cheered Meta and Alphabet’s spending plans but punished Amazon and Microsoft.
- •Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Google and Oracle lost over $1 trillion in market value over the past week, according to FactSet.
- •D.A. Davidson downgraded Amazon to neutral citing rising capex, risks to AWS’s leadership, and potential shifts to a chat-driven internet (Gemini, ChatGPT).