Amazon shares rise after AWS sales jump 37% in Q2

Amazon stock surged in extended trading on July -30, 2026, following the release of second-quarter earnings that showed a dramatic acceleration in its cloud business, though the rally was tempered by a significant increase in capital spending and a swing into negative free cash flow. The company reported revenue of $200.6 billion, a 20% year-over-year increase, and operating income of $27.5 billion, up 43%. The standout performance came from Amazon Web Services (AWS), where sales jumped 37% to $42.2 billion, marking its fastest growth rate in over four years and beating analyst expectations.

AWS operating income rose 64% to $16.6 billion, lifting the division's margin to 39.4%. The cloud unit now accounts for roughly 61% of Amazon's total operating profit despite representing only about 21% of sales. Chief Executive Andy Jassy attributed the growth to strong demand for both core cloud services and artificial intelligence workloads, noting that AWS's AI operation and custom-chip business have each exceeded annualized revenue run rates of $25 billion. He said much of the company's planned data center capacity for 2027 is already reserved, with commitments extending into 2028.