Markets
Amazon’s AI spending drives heavy investment as retail and advertising miss estimates
Amazon reported third-quarter revenue and earnings slightly below analyst expectations while AWS exceeded its forecast, growing 39% to $45.98 billion. Capital spending reached $77.3 billion, and trailing-twelve-month free cash flow fell to negative $42.4 billion as the company expanded AI infrastructure. Advertising revenue missed estimates and online sales growth slowed. CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon expects to spend meaningfully more in 2027 and projected AWS growth above 40% in the next two years, intensifying scrutiny of AI investment returns.
Editorial summary · Publisher article
What matters
- Quarterly revenue was $201.94 billion and earnings were $1.89 per share.
- AWS revenue reached $45.98 billion, above the $45.29 billion estimate.
- Amazon maintained a $220 billion 2026 capital-expenditure forecast.
- Fourth-quarter revenue guidance was below Wall Street’s midpoint expectation.
Context & caveats
- Retail and advertising comparisons were affected partly by moving Prime Day into the second quarter in several countries.
Why this made the edition
The earnings report supplies detailed results, analyst comparisons, segment performance, cash-flow effects and management guidance, making the implications of Amazon’s AI spending assessable.
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