Amazon reports third-quarter sales below expectations amid heavy artificial intelligence investments

Investors and market observers are closely monitoring whether Amazon's record $220 billion capital expenditure plan—aimed largely at expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure—will yield returns or continue to drain free cash flow, which registered a loss of $42.4 billion over the trailing 12 months.

• •Amazon reported fiscal third-quarter net sales of $201.94 billion, representing a 12% increase from the prior year, but missing Wall Street analyst expectations.
• •Net income for the quarter was $20.69 billion, or $1.89 per share, compared with $21.19 billion, or $1.95 per share, in the year-ago period.
• •Sales in Amazon Web Services rose 39.3% to $46 billion, marking the fastest growth rate in nearly five years.
• •CEO Andy Jassy expects total capital spending to reach $220 billion this year, largely driven by investments in artificial intelligence data centers, robots, semiconductors, and satellites.
• •Amazon reported a free cash flow loss of $42.4 billion for the trailing 12 months.
• •For the fourth quarter, Amazon projected net sales to fall between $240 billion and $247 billion, representing a 12% to 16% increase compared to the previous year.
• •The timing shift of Prime Day, which fell entirely in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the second quarter in the U.S. last year, impacted comparative sales growth figures.
• •Amazon announced plans earlier in the month to invest more than $1 billion over five years into communities hosting its data centers to support education, job training, and local infrastructure.
• •Shares dropped 7% in after-market trading following the release of the earnings report.