NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) June 1, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'AA-' issue-level rating to online retailer and cloud computing company Amazon.com Inc.'s proposed senior unsecured notes. We view the transaction as leverage neutral because we anticipate that the company will use the proceeds to replace its financing leases, which we include in our adjusted debt calculations. Amazon posted solid sales gains of 26% in the first quarter of 2020, following its strong performance in 2019, partly due to a coronavirus-related surge in its retail sales. Moreover, the company's high-margin Amazon Web Services (AWS) business maintained its rapid growth pace and expanded its revenue by about 33% in the quarter. We believe the accelerating shift in consumer spending
