Amazon said AWS sales rose 39% year over year to $46.0 billion in the third quarter, which it called AWS’s fastest growth in nearly five years. In the same release, the company reported a trailing-twelve-month free cash flow outflow of $42.4 billion, according to Amazon’s earnings release on Thursday.
Amazon said the outflow compares with a $14.8 billion inflow a year earlier. It said the decrease was driven primarily by a $94.8 billion year-over-year increase in purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives, and that this increase “primarily reflects investments in artificial intelligence.” Operating cash flow rose 29% to $168.3 billion over the trailing twelve months, the release said. CNBC reported that the prior quarter’s trailing figure was an outflow of $7.6 billion. Amazon said it continues to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures of approximately $220 billion.
AWS operating income was $17.8 billion, up from $11.4 billion a year earlier, the release said. CEO Andy Jassy said AWS is on a $184 billion revenue run rate and projected revenue growth rates of over 40% in both 2027 and 2028.
Total net sales rose 12% to $201.9 billion. CNBC reported that earnings per share of $1.89 and revenue of $201.94 billion fell short of LSEG estimates of $1.96 and $202.31 billion. CNBC reported AWS revenue of $45.98 billion against a StreetAccount estimate of $45.29 billion, and advertising revenue of $19.64 billion against $20.82 billion. Amazon said the Prime Day timing shift, with the event in the second quarter this year, meant that, excluding it, third-quarter net sales growth would have been approximately 400 basis points higher.
Net income was $20.7 billion, down from $21.2 billion, which Amazon said was driven primarily by $9.5 billion in pre-tax gains from its Anthropic investments in the third quarter of 2025. Operating income was $28.1 billion.
CNBC reported Thursday evening that Amazon shares fell more than 6% in extended trading. For the fourth quarter, Amazon guided net sales of $240.0 billion to $247.0 billion and operating income of $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion.
CNBC reported that earlier this week Microsoft lowered its 2026 capital spending forecast to $170 billion from $175 billion and that Alphabet kept its guidance at $195 billion to $205 billion. Both companies reported quarterly results on Wednesday: Microsoft and Alphabet. Alphabet shares fell sharply on Thursday, as AI Tech Daily reported.
Sources
- CNBC: Amazon misses on earnings and holds capex steady, adding to AI spending jitters (Annie Palmer, October 29, 2026)
- Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Results (October 29, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: Microsoft Q1 FY27 earnings, Azure $33.17 billion
- AI Tech Daily: Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings, Gemini at 1 billion users