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💡 Main takeaway:
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Key takeaways
- Amazon shares rose in after-hours trading Thursday as the company reported better third-quarter earnings than analysts expected.
- Growth in the company’s web services Amazon Web Services helped boost results.
Shares of Amazon ( AMZN ) rose in extended trading Thursday after the e-commerce and cloud giant reported third-quarter results that beat previous analyst estimates, driven by growth in its cloud business.
Shares rose more than 13% above $253 after hours, their first all-time high since early February.
The online retail and cloud computing provider reported earnings per share of $1.95, up from $1.43 at the same time last year, and well above the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. Revenue rose 13% year over year to $180.2 billion, also beating expectations as sales in the company’s Amazon Web Services segment jumped 20% to $33 billion.
Why is this important?
Like many of its Big Tech peers, Amazon is facing pressure to show that its investments in artificial intelligence are paying off, and Thursday’s strong showing from its cloud business and the ensuing jump in Amazon shares indicate growing optimism about its path.
“We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said, adding that the company has particularly benefited from “strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we have been focused on accelerating capabilities.”
Looking ahead, Amazon said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to range between $206 billion and $213 billion, compared to analyst estimates of $208.66 billion.
The company also raised its expected full-year capital expenditures to $125 billion from about $118 billion previously, with CFO Brian Olsavsky telling investors during an earnings call on Thursday that he expects them to rise in 2026.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced what could be the largest layoffs in the company’s history, with plans to cut its headcount by about 14,000 jobs, through layoffs and changes to hiring plans as it and other technology companies look to cut costs elsewhere while boosting investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Through Thursday’s close, shares were up less than 2% for 2025, as concerns about tariffs and disappointing cloud growth earlier in the year weighed on sentiment around the stock.
This article has been updated since it was first published to include additional information and reflect the most recent stock quotes.
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