Amazon Q3 2026 earnings: $201.9 billion in sales, AWS up 39% to $46 billion

Amazon.com reported third-quarter net sales of $201.9 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 12% from $180.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding a $0.9 billion unfavorable foreign-exchange impact, sales rose 13%.

Amazon said Prime Day fell mostly in the second quarter this year, while in 2025 it was entirely in the third quarter. Excluding that shift, the company said third-quarter growth would have been about 400 basis points higher.

AWS sales grew 39%. The AWS segment posted $46.0 billion in sales, and its operating income rose to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion. CEO Andy Jassy said AWS is at a $184 billion annual revenue run rate and projected growth of over 40% in both 2027 and 2028.

Retail segments. North America sales rose 6% to $112.9 billion, with operating income of $8.7 billion versus $4.8 billion. International sales rose 5% to $43.1 billion, or 8% excluding currency, with operating income of $1.6 billion versus $1.2 billion.

Profit. Operating income rose to $28.1 billion from $17.4 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 decline was driven mainly by $9.5 billion of pre-tax gains on its Anthropic investments in the year-ago quarter.

Cash and AI spending. Trailing twelve-month operating cash flow rose 29% to $168.3 billion. Free cash flow was an outflow of $42.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, driven mainly by a $94.8 billion year-over-year increase in property and equipment purchases, which Amazon said primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence. The company still expects 2026 cash capital expenditures of about $220 billion.

Guidance. For the fourth quarter, Amazon expects 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. It expects advertising revenue growth in the high teens. Amazon's earnings call is at 5:00 PM ET.