amazon logoAmazon’s share price dropped more than three percent Monday morning, following the company’s announcement that it plans to offer an unspecified number senior unsecured notes – a form of debt – to finance its business.

Moody’s downgraded Amazon’s outlook to “negative” from its previous “stable” rating in light of the decision.

“The change in outlook to negative results from Amazon’s announcement this morning that it was issuing a sizeable, though amount to be determined, level of new senior unsecured notes,” Moody’s Vice President Charlie O’Shea said in a press release. “Proceeds are to be used for general corporate purposes in support of Amazon’s myriad growth initiatives, and it is Moody’s expectation that the funds will not be utilized for any form of shareholder returns.”

Amazon is investing in a number of projects, everything from media to advertising to hardware products such as the Fire Phone and Amazon Echo. It also purchased gaming video site Twitch recently for $970 million.

As of this writing, Amazon’s stock is trading at about $328, down more than $10. It’s a tough day for a lot of companies on Wall Street – the NASDAQ, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are all down – but Amazon seems to be experiencing a particularly bad morning, even as the company is in the midst of the largest shopping season of the year.

Here’s a look at Amazon’ stock over the past year.

stock-amazonchart55
Amazon’s stock is down 16 percent in the past year and is falling today. Click on chart for real-time price.

Amazon has been taking it in the teeth from Wall Street during the second half of this year. The company’s third quarter earnings report disappointed investors, sending the stock plummeting. Hedge fund manager David Einhorn added Amazon to his “Bubble Basket” of short positions on tech stocks he believes are overvalued. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer even criticized the company, saying it is not a real business.

 

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