Amazon stock balances AWS surge against 220 billion US dollar AI spending

Amazon.com Inc. put accelerating cloud growth against heavier artificial intelligence investment when it released third-quarter results on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The company said AWS revenue rose 39 percent year over year to 46.0 billion US dollars, its fastest growth in nearly five years, while total net sales increased 12 percent to 201.9 billion US dollars.

Amazon stock traded at 233.25 euros on Lang & Schwarz at 14:05 CET on Friday, November 6. The real-time quote of Amazon stock is available separately.

AWS growth raises the stakes

AWS generated 45.984 billion US dollars in third-quarter revenue, up from 33.006 billion US dollars a year earlier. Segment operating income increased 55 percent to 17.773 billion US dollars, and the operating margin reached 38.7 percent. AWS represented 23 percent of Amazon's quarterly sales, compared with 18 percent in the year-earlier period.

Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the company's investment in AWS functionality and infrastructure was working. Amazon expects AWS revenue growth of more than 40 percent in both 2027 and 2028, according to the Amazon investor-relations release. Jassy also said the business could become a trillion-dollar revenue operation within five to 10 years.

AI spending weighs on cash generation

Operating income climbed 61 percent to 28.076 billion US dollars, producing Amazon's highest quarterly operating margin at 13.9 percent. Net income, however, fell to 20.685 billion US dollars, or 1.89 US dollars per diluted share, from 21.187 billion US dollars, or 1.95 US dollars, in the third quarter of 2025. Amazon said the comparison was affected mainly by a 9.5 billion US dollar pre-tax gain from its Anthropic investment in the prior-year quarter.

Operating cash flow for the trailing twelve months rose 29 percent to 168.3 billion US dollars. Free cash flow moved to an outflow of 42.4 billion US dollars from an inflow of 14.8 billion US dollars a year earlier, as property and equipment purchases increased and primarily reflected artificial intelligence investment. Amazon continues to expect cash capital expenditures of approximately 220 billion US dollars for 2026.

Holiday guidance sets the next test

For the fourth quarter, Amazon expects net sales between 240.0 billion and 247.0 billion US dollars, equivalent to growth of 12 to 16 percent from the year-earlier quarter. Operating income is expected between 28.5 billion and 33.5 billion US dollars, compared with 25.0 billion US dollars a year earlier. The outlook covers the holiday period, when retail demand and delivery capacity will be central to the next earnings assessment.

Amazon also expects advertising revenue to grow in the high teens year over year in the fourth quarter. The company said it plans to hire more than 300,000 seasonal, part-time and full-time employees across its US operations for the holiday season.

Broader market attention remains focused on the S&P 500 while investors assess cloud growth, AI investment and the holiday outlook; current market reports provide the wider context.

More news and analyses on Amazon stock will follow as the company approaches its next quarterly update.