AWS revenue rose 39.3% as Amazon increased AI-related infrastructure investment.
Why it matters: AWS growth is accelerating as Amazon invests heavily in infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence. Free cash flow, meaning cash generated after capital expenditures, turned negative over the trailing 12 months, increasing pressure to convert that spending into durable returns.
- AWS revenue reached $46.0 billion in Amazon's calendar third quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 39.3% year over year.
- AWS operating income rose to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion in the same quarter.
- Amazon reported a $94.8 billion year-over-year increase in purchases of property and equipment for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.
- Trailing-12-month free cash flow through September 30 was negative $42.4 billion, compared with positive $14.8 billion a year earlier.
Amazon's cloud business accelerated in the calendar third quarter ended September 30, 2026. AWS net sales rose to $46.0 billion, up 39.3% from a year earlier, while operating income increased to $17.8 billion from $11.4 billion.
Amazon's earnings release reported the figures, and CNBC's independent October 29 earnings coverage also reported the AWS results. Amazon said it signed agreements during the quarter with Meta, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Salesforce, Oracle, Qualcomm, Verizon and other customers and partners.
Amazon's release described the OpenAI arrangement as primarily involving AWS cloud services and AWS chips. It also attributed the increase in property-and-equipment purchases primarily to AI-related investment. Those disclosures show Amazon's focus on AI infrastructure, but they do not by themselves establish that AI demand caused the 39.3% AWS revenue increase.
CEO Andy Jassy said, in the context of Amazon's third-quarter results, that AWS year-over-year revenue growth would exceed 40% in both 2027 and 2028. CNBC attributed the expectation to Jassy; it was not presented as formal company guidance.
Amazon reported negative trailing-12-month free cash flow of $42.4 billion through September 30, versus positive free cash flow of $14.8 billion a year earlier. The measure compares cash generated by the business with capital expenditures over the preceding 12 months. Negative free cash flow means investment outlays exceeded operating cash generation over that period.
In its quarterly SEC filing, Amazon reported a $94.8 billion year-over-year increase in purchases of property and equipment for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared with the nine months ended September 30, 2025. That is a change over nine months, not quarterly spending.
By the numbers
- $46.0 billion - AWS revenue in the quarter ended September 30, 2026
- 39.3% - AWS year-over-year revenue growth
- $42.4 billion negative - Amazon's trailing-12-month free cash flow through September 30
Yes, but: Amazon linked its increased property-and-equipment purchases to AI-related investment, but the disclosures do not prove that AI demand alone drove AWS's revenue growth.