Amazon Reports $201.9 Billion in Q3 Sales as AWS Growth Nears 40%

Amazon reported $201.9 billion in third-quarter net sales on October 29, up 12% from $180.2 billion a year earlier. Its AWS cloud business grew 39.3%, its fastest rate in nearly five years, with sales reaching $46.0 billion. The results cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Operating income rose to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion, and Amazon said its operating margin reached a company record of 13.9%. AWS operating income increased to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion. North America sales rose 6% to $112.9 billion, while international sales increased 5% to $43.1 billion. Net income fell to $20.7 billion, or $1.89 per diluted share, from $21.2 billion, or $1.95 per share. Amazon said the comparison primarily reflected $9.5 billion in pre-tax gains on its Anthropic investment recorded in the year-earlier quarter. It also said moving Prime Day into the second quarter in most major countries reduced the reported sales growth rate; without that timing change, growth would have been approximately four percentage points higher. Trailing twelve-month operating cash flow increased 29% to $168.3 billion, but free cash flow shifted to an outflow of $42.4 billion from an inflow of $14.8 billion. Purchases of property and equipment, net of sales and incentives, increased by $94.8 billion. Amazon said, “This increase primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence.” Amazon maintained its expectation of approximately $220 billion in cash capital expenditures for 2026. For the fourth quarter, the company forecast net sales of $240 billion to $247 billion, representing growth of 12% to 16%, and operating income of $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion.