Why it matters
- Amazon said Thursday, Oct. 29, that third-quarter net sales rose 12% to $201.9 billion and operating income rose to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion. Diluted EPS fell to $1.89 from $1.95.
- AWS sales rose 39% to $46.0 billion, the fastest growth in nearly five years, Amazon said. Analysts had expected EPS of $1.97 and revenue of $202.25 billion, Yahoo Finance reported, citing Bloomberg consensus.
- Shares traded at $226.71 at 4:57 p.m. ET, down 7.0% from the regular-session close of $243.79, according to Yahoo Finance data. They had already fallen 4.2% during the day.
Updated Oct. 30: Amazon closed Friday's regular session at $240.35, down 1.4% from Thursday's close of $243.79, according to Yahoo Finance daily data. It traded as low as $229.36 during the session.
Amazon shares fell about 7% in after-hours trading Thursday, Oct. 29, after the company's third-quarter earnings per share missed Wall Street forecasts and its free cash flow swung deeper into the red, even as its AWS cloud unit grew at its fastest pace in nearly five years. The stock traded at $226.71 at 4:57 p.m. ET, down 7.0% from its regular-session close of $243.79, according to Yahoo Finance data.
The shares had already dropped 4.2% during the regular session, from Wednesday's close of $254.60, a day after Alphabet fell on its own results. In the first minutes after the report, Amazon touched $214.01, down 12.2%, Yahoo Finance one-minute data show. Amazon's conference call began at 5 p.m. ET, and after-hours prices can change before Friday's open.
Why did Amazon stock fall after earnings?
Earnings and sales came in a little short of forecasts, and spending on AI kept cash flow negative. Amazon earned $1.89 a diluted share on net sales of $201.9 billion, the company said in its earnings release. Analysts had expected $1.97 a share on revenue of $202.25 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates cited by Yahoo Finance.
Net income fell to $20.7 billion from $21.2 billion. Amazon said the drop mainly reflects $9.5 billion of pre-tax gains on its Anthropic investments in the year-earlier quarter.
Purchases of property and equipment rose to $77.3 billion in the quarter from $35.1 billion a year earlier, the release shows. Free cash flow for the trailing 12 months was an outflow of $42.4 billion, compared with an inflow of $14.8 billion a year earlier. Amazon said the increase in spending "primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence."
Amazon third-quarter 2026 results at a glance
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $201.9 billion | $180.2 billion |
| AWS sales | $46.0 billion | $33.0 billion |
| AWS operating income | $17.8 billion | $11.4 billion |
| Advertising services | $19.6 billion | $17.7 billion |
| Operating income | $28.1 billion | $17.4 billion |
| Operating margin | 13.9% | 9.7% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.89 | $1.95 |
Source: Amazon third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K).
Amazon said the 13.9% operating margin was its highest ever. It also said Prime Day moved into the second quarter in most large countries this year, after falling entirely in the third quarter of 2025. Excluding that shift, third-quarter sales growth would have been about 4 percentage points higher.
How fast is AWS growing?
AWS sales rose 39.3% to $46.0 billion, which Amazon put at a $184 billion annual run rate. That was above the $45.68 billion analysts had expected, Yahoo Finance reported. "Our AWS investment in functionality and infrastructure is working," Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in the release. He said Amazon projects AWS revenue growth "of over 40% both in 2027 and in 2028."
What is Amazon's fourth-quarter guidance?
Amazon expects fourth-quarter net sales of $240.0 billion to $247.0 billion, up 12% to 16%, and operating income of $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion, compared with $25.0 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected about $244.5 billion of sales and $32.99 billion of operating income, Yahoo Finance reported. Amazon said it still expects 2026 cash capital spending of about $220 billion.
Follow more earnings coverage in our companies section, including Meta's third-quarter results, and the wider picture in our markets coverage.
Sources
- Amazon.com, Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Results (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K, Oct. 29, 2026)
- Yahoo Finance, Daniel Howley, Amazon earnings live: Q3 earnings miss sends stock lower (Oct. 29, 2026)
- Yahoo Finance, chart data for Amazon (AMZN), after hours and AMZN daily closes
