MMarketMath

AMZN

Fast growerQuality: Medium (52/100)2 red flags

Amazon · Consumer Discretionary · Broadline Retail

$262.07

52w 196.00 – 287.20

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$2.83T

P/E

35.9

P/FCF

362.5

FCF yield

0.3%

ROE

18.9%

Shldr yield

0.0%

div 0.0% + bb 0.0%

What today's price assumes

At $2.83T, the market is pricing in 49.1% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 0.3% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $8 · $8 · $10 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 23.5× across 19 years, AMZN would trade near $304/share (25th–75th percentile: $287–$355); it trades at 20.3× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

+11.7%

Rev 5y

+13.2%

Rev 10y

+21.0%

EPS 5y

+28.0%

EPS 10y

+60.9%

FCF 5y

−21.6%

FCF 10y

+0.3%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $14.8B
2008: $19.2B
2009: $24.5B
2010: $34.2B
2011: $48.1B
2012: $61.1B
2013: $74.5B
2014: $89.0B
2015: $107.0B
2016: $136.0B
2017: $177.9B
2018: $232.9B
2019: $280.5B
2020: $386.1B
2021: $469.8B
2022: $514.0B
2023: $574.8B
2024: $638.0B
2025: $716.9B
$0$200.0B$400.0B$600.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $476.0M
2008: $645.0M
2009: $902.0M
2010: $1.2B
2011: $631.0M
2012: −$39.0M
2013: $274.0M
2014: −$241.0M
2015: $596.0M
2016: $2.4B
2017: $3.0B
2018: $10.1B
2019: $11.6B
2020: $21.3B
2021: $33.4B
2022: −$2.7B
2023: $30.4B
2024: $59.2B
2025: $77.7B
$0$25.0B$50.0B$75.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $1.2B
2008: $1.4B
2009: $2.9B
2010: $2.5B
2011: $2.1B
2012: $395.0M
2013: $2.0B
2014: $1.9B
2015: $7.5B
2016: $10.5B
2017: $6.4B
2018: $17.3B
2019: $21.7B
2020: $25.9B
2021: −$14.7B
2022: −$16.9B
2023: $32.2B
2024: $32.9B
2025: $7.7B
$0$20.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 8.6B
2008: 8.7B
2009: 8.9B
2010: 9.2B
2011: 9.3B
2012: 9.2B
2013: 9.4B
2014: 9.3B
2015: 9.7B
2016: 9.8B
2017: 10.0B
2018: 10.1B
2019: 10.2B
2020: 10.2B
2021: 10.3B
2022: 10.2B
2023: 10.5B
2024: 10.7B
2025: 10.8B
05.0B10.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

0%10%20%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $248.0M
2008: $100.0M
2009: $0
2011: $277.0M
2012: $960.0M
2013: $0
2014: $0
2020: $0
2021: $0
2022: $6.0B
2023: $0
2024: $0
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$50.0B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $134.4B
Q3'23: $143.1B
Q4'23: $170.0B
Q1'24: $143.3B
Q2'24: $148.0B
Q3'24: $158.9B
Q4'24: $187.8B
Q1'25: $155.7B
Q2'25: $167.7B
Q3'25: $180.2B
Q4'25: $213.4B
Q1'26: $181.5B
Q2'26: $200.6B
$0$100.0B$200.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $6.8B
Q3'23: $9.9B
Q4'23: $10.6B
Q1'24: $10.4B
Q2'24: $13.5B
Q3'24: $15.3B
Q4'24: $20.0B
Q1'25: $17.1B
Q2'25: $18.2B
Q3'25: $21.2B
Q4'25: $21.2B
Q1'26: $30.3B
Q2'26: $62.6B
$0$20.0B$40.0B$60.0B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$200.6B+19.6%$62.6B+244.9%5.75$45.4B
Q1'26$181.5B+16.6%$30.3B+76.7%2.78$26.0B
Q4'25 *$213.4B+13.6%$21.2B+5.9%1.95$54.5B
Q3'25$180.2B+13.4%$21.2B+38.2%1.95$35.5B
Q2'25$167.7B+13.3%$18.2B+34.7%1.68$32.5B
Q1'25$155.7B+8.6%$17.1B+64.2%1.59$17.0B
Q4'24 *$187.8B+10.5%$20.0B+88.3%1.86$45.6B
Q3'24$158.9B+11.0%$15.3B+55.2%1.43$26.0B
Q2'24$148.0B+10.1%$13.5B+99.8%1.26$25.3B
Q1'24$143.3B+12.5%$10.4B+228.8%0.98$19.0B
Q4'23 *$170.0B+13.9%$10.6B+3721.6%1.00$42.5B
Q3'23$143.1B+12.6%$9.9B+244.0%0.94$21.2B
Q2'23$134.4B+10.8%$6.8B0.65$16.5B

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+11.7%+13.2%+21.0%+22.5%
Operating cash flow+44.0%+16.1%+27.8%+27.9%
Free cash flow−21.6%−21.6%+0.3%+7.7%
EPS (diluted)+22.0%+28.0%+60.9%+31.0%
Equity+41.2%+34.5%+40.8%+31.4%
LT debt−0.8%+15.6%+23.1%+48.0%
Diluted shares+2.0%+1.2%+1.2%+1.1%
Stock price+23.8%+8.6%+21.2%+23.7%

$100, 3 years ago

$190vs $176 in SPY

23.8% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$151vs $181 in SPY

8.6% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$681vs $412 in SPY

21.2% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$2,435vs $813 in SPY

23.7% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$4.83

$956.1B created / $198.0B retained

Last 10 years

$9.37

$2.31T created / $246.4B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

29.3%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

5.0%

MC vs 10× OCF

2.00

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

8.5y

SBC / FCF

253.0%

Owner earnings

−$11.8B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

-0.4%

Share count 5y

+1.3%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

49.8%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$0.65

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 70.8% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 23.9% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 16.9% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

16 of 26 checks pass · 62%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

6/7

  • Revenue growth

    13.2% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • EPS growth

    28.0% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    -21.6% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Revenue rises consistently

    9 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    8 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    9 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    16.1% vs 13.2% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    pass

Profitability

5/6

  • Net margin

    10.8% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    11.2% · ≥ 10%

    pass
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    na
  • Return on equity

    18.9% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    29.3% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • FCF margin

    1.1% · ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $139.5B vs NI $77.7B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

4/5

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    8.5y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    132% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    pass
  • Leverage

    0.16 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $411.1B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    3% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    pass

Capital Allocation

1/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    1.3% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    fail
  • Stock comp restrained

    253% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    fail
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    0% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    pass
  • Repurchases are a habit

    1 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    fail

Valuation Discipline

0/4

  • FCF yield

    0.3% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    35.9 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    49.1% vs 0.3% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    0.0% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    fail

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Heavy debt load

Long-term debt exceeds 5 years of free cash flow.

Heavy stock compensation

Stock-based compensation consumes more than 30% of free cash flow.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
2025716,92479,97577,6707.17139,514131,8197,69519,46786,81065,648411,06510,827
2024637,95968,59359,2485.53115,87782,99932,878022,01178,77952,623285,97010,721
2023574,78536,85230,4252.9084,94652,72932,217024,02373,38758,314201,87510,492
2022513,98312,248-2,722-0.2746,75263,645-16,8936,00019,62153,88867,150146,04310,189
2021469,82224,87933,3643.2446,32761,053-14,726012,75736,22048,744138,24510,296
2020386,06422,89921,3312.0966,06440,14025,92409,20842,12231,81693,40410,198
2019280,52214,54111,5881.1438,51416,86121,6536,86436,09223,41462,06010,198
2018232,88712,42110,0731.0030,72313,42717,2965,41831,75023,49543,54910,117
2017177,8664,1063,0330.3018,36511,9556,4104,21520,52224,74327,7099,975
2016135,9874,1862,3710.2417,2036,73710,4662,97519,3347,69419,2859,793
2015107,0062,2335960.0612,0394,5897,4502,11915,8908,22713,3849,652
201488,988178-241-0.036,8424,8931,94901,49714,5578,26510,7419,348
201374,4527452740.035,4753,4442,03101,1348,6583,1919,7469,409
201261,093676-39-0.004,1803,7853959608338,0843,0848,1929,166
201148,0778626310.073,9031,8112,0922775575,2692557,7579,328
201034,2041,4061,1520.133,4959792,5164243,7771846,8649,227
200924,5095,5311,1299020.103,2933732,92003413,4441095,2578,943
200819,1664,2708426450.071,6973331,3641002752,7694092,6728,741
200714,8353,3536554760.061,4052241,1812481852,5391,1978,579

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.