AWS Hits Half-Trillion Mark Amid Amazon's Fading Financial Health

Amazon's cloud business has reached new heights, with its backlog surpassing half a trillion dollars. The company's quarterly results showed that Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue grew 37% year-over-year to $42.2 billion, the strongest growth in 18 quarters.

AWS's order backlog swelled by $132 billion in a single quarter to reach $496 billion, and CEO Andy Jassy believes it could one day generate $1 trillion in annual revenue.

However, Amazon's financial picture has grown more complicated. The company has nearly doubled its long-term debt in six months and is now burning through cash at a rate that would have seemed unthinkable just a year ago.