In brief
Amazon reported $201.94 billion in net sales for Q3 2026, up 12% year‑on‑year, while net income fell 2.4% to $20.69 billion. Strong performance from AWS and advertising services lifted sales, but a sizable pretax gain from the AI firm Anthropic weighed on earnings. Amazon projects Q4 net sales of $240‑$247 billion and operating income of $28.5‑$33.5 billion.
On Thursday, Amazon announced that its third‑quarter net sales rose 12 percent year‑on‑year to $201.94 billion, driven largely by growth in its cloud‑computing arm, while net income fell 2.4 percent to $20.69 billion, according to a report from Xinhua.
Amazon’s net sales of $201.94 billion were up from $189.96 billion a year earlier, and the company’s diluted earnings per share dropped to $1.89 from $1.95. The decline in profit was attributed primarily to a pretax gain of $9.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025 from its investment in the AI firm Anthropic.
Performance by segment
Amazon Web Services (AWS) posted net sales of $45.98 billion, up 39.3 percent year‑on‑year, its fastest growth in nearly five years. AWS operating income rose 55 percent to $17.77 billion from $11.43 billion a year earlier.
Advertising services generated $19.64 billion in net sales, up 11 percent year‑on‑year. Despite these gains, the company’s free cash flow turned negative in the 12 months ended September 30, recording an outflow of $42.4 billion versus an inflow of $14.8 billion a year earlier, a shift largely attributed to increased investment in AI infrastructure.
Looking ahead, Amazon expects fourth‑quarter net sales to range from $240 billion to $247 billion, representing year‑on‑year growth of 12 percent to 16 percent. Operating income for the quarter is projected to reach $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion, up from $25 billion a year earlier. The outlook was provided by Amazon’s financial statement released alongside the quarter‑end results.
