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Amazon (AMZN) Stock: $12 Billion Louisiana Data Center Plan Explained

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Nexo Partners with Bakkt for US Crypto Exchange and Yield Programs

TLDR

  • Amazon is investing $12 billion in data centers across northwest Louisiana, in Caddo and Bossier Parishes
  • The project will create 540 full-time jobs and is being developed with STACK Infrastructure
  • Amazon will fund 100% of construction costs plus up to $400 million in local water infrastructure
  • 2026 capital spending is forecast at $200 billion, up from $131 billion in 2025
  • AMZN is down 11% year-to-date; Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus with a $282.21 average price target

Amazon is spending $12 billion to build data centers in Louisiana, marking one of its largest single-state infrastructure commitments to date.

The facilities will be built across Caddo and Bossier Parishes in the northwest of the state, in partnership with STACK Infrastructure. Amazon says it will cover 100% of the construction costs and is working with local utility Southwestern Electric Power Company on power infrastructure needs.

The project is expected to create 540 full-time jobs, with additional roles needed for ongoing support — electricians, HVAC technicians and similar trades.

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Addressing Local Concerns

Data center projects have faced resistance in some communities due to strain on power grids and high water usage. Amazon is moving to address both.

The company plans to invest up to $400 million in public water infrastructure near the sites and says water use will be limited to cooling and operational purposes. It has also pointed to prior solar investments in Louisiana that added up to 200 MW of carbon-free energy to the state’s grid.

Part of a Much Bigger Spending Plan

The Louisiana announcement fits into Amazon’s broader capital expenditure strategy. During Q4 earnings earlier this month, Amazon said it expects to spend $200 billion in 2026 — up sharply from $131 billion in 2025.

That number hit AMZN stock hard. The stock dropped after the earnings release and is now down about 11% year-to-date, closing Monday at $205.27 after a 2.3% single-day drop.

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Asked whether the $12 billion Louisiana figure sits inside that $200 billion plan, Amazon gave a non-committal answer — saying it “regularly makes investment announcements at the federal, state, and local level” that “often occur over many years.”

Tech companies as a group have committed at least $630 billion in capital spending this year, driven by AI infrastructure demand. Louisiana is becoming a notable destination — Meta Platforms has also chosen the state for its Hyperion data center, part of a $27 billion joint venture with Blue Owl Capital.

What Wall Street Thinks

Despite the stock’s slide, analyst sentiment on AMZN remains firmly positive. Out of 43 analysts covering the stock, 40 rate it a Buy and three say Hold. The average price target is $282.21 — implying around 37.5% upside from current levels.

AMZN stock is down 11% year-to-date as of the latest close.

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Crypto World

Empery Digital Shareholder Urges BTC Sale, CEO Exit

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Empery Digital Shareholder Urges BTC Sale, CEO Exit

A major shareholder in Empery Digital has called on the company to abandon its Bitcoin-centric strategy, sell its digital asset holdings and return the proceeds to investors, along with demanding the resignation of the CEO and the entire board of directors.

In a letter to the company’s board on Monday, Tice P. Brown, who is the beneficial owner of roughly 9.8% of Empery Digital’s outstanding shares, accused management of entrenching themselves at shareholders’ expense. 

Brown said that Empery Digital’s leadership privately approached him on Feb. 18 with an offer to repurchase all of his shares at a price equal to 100% of their market net asset value (mNAV), which he called “a large premium to prevailing market valuations.” He declined the proposal, saying it was designed to preserve management’s positions rather than return capital to shareholders.

Brown previously criticized the company’s capital allocation decisions, particularly its governance and buyback strategy, and urged a complete pivot away from its Bitcoin (BTC) strategy. 

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In response to Brown’s recent letter demanding both the Bitcoin sale and the immediate resignation of CEO Ryan Lane and the entire board, Empery Digital said the dissident investor “continues to misrepresent and distort the facts to further his self-serving campaign.” 

Source: The Moon Show

In its statement, the company pushed back on Brown’s characterization of events, saying: “Mr. Brown intimated his interest in having his shares repurchased by the company but initially demanded a significant premium to NAV. Management attempted to reach an agreement with Mr. Brown as it believed such an agreement would be in the best interests of the Company and all its shareholders.”

Related: Bitcoin ETFs still sit on $53B in net inflows despite recent outflows: Bloomberg

Empery Digital’s Bitcoin gambit could be upended

The revolt by a major shareholder highlights mounting tensions around Empery Digital’s business model, which is built on accumulating and holding Bitcoin as its principal asset. A push to liquidate that stash could upend the strategy and reshape investor expectations of the company’s value.

Empery Digital, formerly known as Volcon, began as an electric power sporting goods company producing electric off-road vehicles and related products. It pivoted to a Bitcoin-centric corporate treasury strategy in mid-2025, adopting the new focus with the stated goal of becoming a Bitcoin aggregator.

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Since then, Empery has accumulated 4,081 BTC, making it one of the top 25 publicly traded Bitcoin holders globally.

Empery acquired the bulk of its BTC holdings last summer. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

Digital asset treasuries have come under pressure as crypto prices have retraced and equity valuations across the sector have compressed.

Analysts at Standard Chartered recently warned that the sustainability of many crypto treasury companies hinges on their ability to maintain a premium valuation relative to their underlying Bitcoin holdings, commonly measured by market net asset value. That premium has become increasingly difficult to sustain amid current market conditions.

Related: Crypto’s 2026 investment playbook: Bitcoin, stablecoin infrastructure, tokenized assets