Amazon RSUs Pile Up With 99.4M Due In 2027

Amazon said 99.4 million Amazon RSUs, or about 45% of its 223.3 million employee share awards, are set to turn into real shares in 2027, a big moment for workers and investors.

Key Takeaways

Amazon disclosed 99.4 million RSUs scheduled to vest in 2027, the largest single-year tranche of its 223.3 million outstanding
The filing shows 26.1 million units due to vest in the final three months of 2026 and 62.8 million in 2028
Stock-based compensation expense rose to $5.406 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30 from $4.847 billion a year earlier
Amazon granted 112.8 million units in the first nine months of 2026, vested 79.5 million and recorded 32.5 million forfeitures

The company reported the figure in its quarterly filing on Friday, showing 26.1 million units due to vest in the final three months of 2026, 99.4 million in 2027, 62.8 million in 2028, 25.2 million in 2029, 7.5 million in 2030 and 2.3 million after that.

The filing also shows total stock-based compensation expense rose to $5.406 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30 from $4.847 billion a year earlier, and reached $15.476 billion for the first nine months of 2026.

Vesting Wave Amazon RSUs Stack Into One Year

Amazon RSUs are stock awards that employees receive over time instead of all-cash pay.

Workers do not own those shares immediately. The shares vest on a schedule after time passes or conditions are met.

That schedule matters because it shows when promised equity turns into actual employee-owned shares, and because the concentration in 2027 creates a clear modeling point for shareholders.

The same table shows Amazon granted 112.8 million units in the first nine months of 2026 at a weighted average grant-date fair value of $224, vested 79.5 million units and recorded 32.5 million forfeitures, leaving 223.3 million outstanding at Sept. 30.

Those numbers show the equity program stayed large even after a heavy vesting period.

Amazon had 222.5 million units outstanding at Dec. 31 and 223.3 million nine months later, meaning new grants were large enough to keep the total pool roughly flat. The expense table also shows where stock pay sits inside the company, with technology and infrastructure the largest line at $3.409 billion for the quarter, ahead of fulfillment, sales and marketing and general administration.

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A Filing Table Became A Shareholder Story

The 99.4 million figure means 2027 holds about 45% of Amazon’s outstanding RSUs at Sept. 30, concentrating nearly half of the remaining award pool into a single calendar year and far exceeding 2028’s 62.8 million.

That concentration is the Vesting Wave investors will model when estimating future share issuance and employee ownership dilution.

For valuation arithmetic to make sense, it must be true that (a) grant levels and forfeiture rates change in predictable ways, (b) a meaningful share of the vested RSUs will be sold into the market rather than held, and (c) the company’s revenue or cash flows justify any assumed share-price appreciation used to value outstanding grants.

Revenue numbers and the expectation of revenue remain distinct. The filing shows expense and grant volumes, not guaranteed future prices.

The next update will come in Amazon’s year-end filing, where fresh grants, forfeitures or accelerated vesting could change the 2027 stack.

If grant levels remain high, the Vesting Wave may leave total outstanding RSUs near current totals even after a large chunk vests.

How Amazon RSUs Flow Through The Accounts

The key mechanic behind Amazon RSUs is timing. Amazon books compensation cost before employees receive the shares by estimating the grant-date value and recording that value over the service period.

The vesting table does not equal next year’s expense bill dollar for dollar.

That distinction matters for two groups. Investors use the vesting schedule to estimate future share issuance.

Employees watch it because vesting turns an award on paper into saleable stock.

Compared with a cash bonus, RSUs tie pay to the stock price between grant and vesting. The filing does not show what Amazon’s share price will be in 2027, but it does show where the largest pipeline of future share delivery now sits in this Vesting Wave.