KUALA LUMPUR: Amazon.com reported a 12% increase in third-quarter revenue, driven by strong growth in its cloud computing business, although net income declined due to the absence of investment gains recorded a year earlier.
Net sales for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2026, rose to US$201.9 billion (RM817.59 billion) from US$180.2 billion a year earlier, it said in a report.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) led growth, with revenue surging 39% to US$46 billion, its fastest expansion in nearly five years. AWS operating income climbed to US$17.8 billion from US$11.4 billion.
Overall operating income increased 61% to US$28.1 billion, lifting Amazon's operating margin to a record 13.9%.
However, net income fell to US$20.7 billion from US$21.2 billion, partly reflecting US$9.5 billion in pre-tax investment gains from Anthropic recorded in the previous year's quarter.
Chief executive Andy Jassy said investments in cloud infrastructure and services were supporting growth.
“Our AWS investment in functionality and infrastructure is working, with over 39% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 (US$184 billion revenue run rate) and projected revenue growth rates of over 40% both in 2027 and in 2028,” he said.
Operating cash flow rose 29% to US$168.3 billion over the trailing 12 months, while free cash flow swung to an outflow of US$42.4 billion, largely due to higher artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure spending.
Amazon forecast fourth-quarter revenue of US$240 billion to US$247 billion and maintained its full-year 2026 capital expenditure outlook of approximately US$220 billion, reflecting continued investment in AI and infrastructure.