Amazon Q3 Sales Rise 12% as AWS Growth Surges

Amazon reported third-quarter 2026 sales of $201.9 billion, up 12% from a year earlier, as revenue at its Amazon Web Services cloud unit rose 39.3% to $46 billion. The results also showed trailing-12-month free cash flow of negative $42.4 billion through September 30, which the company attributed largely to increased spending on property and equipment. Operating income increased to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion a year earlier, and Amazon reported an operating margin of 13.9%, its highest to date. AWS operating income rose to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion, making the cloud division a major contributor to the company’s profitability. Net income, however, fell to $20.7 billion from $21.2 billion, while diluted earnings per share declined to $1.89 from $1.95. The free-cash-flow figure covers the 12 months ending September 30, not the quarter alone. Amazon reported an inflow of $14.8 billion for the comparable period a year earlier. Operating cash flow over the latest 12 months grew 29% to $168.3 billion, but purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives, increased 82% year over year to $210.7 billion. Amazon said it expects capital...