Amazon.com Inc

Amazon delivered a blowout third quarter, posting earnings of $0.94 per diluted share against a consensus estimate of $0.55, a beat of 70.91%, while revenue of $143.08 billion topped expectations of $133.39 billion by 7.26% and grew 12.6% year over year. The most compelling driver behind the results was a dramatic margin expansion across all segments, led by the North America segment swinging to $4.31 billion in operating income from an operating loss of $412 million a year ago, as Amazon's regionalized fulfillment network delivered faster shipping at lower cost. AWS contributed $6.98 billion in operating income at a 30.3% margin, while advertising services grew 26% to $12.06 billion, underscoring the breadth of the recovery. Free cash flow swung to a positive $21.43 billion from negative $19.69 billion a year earlier. Looking ahead, Amazon guided Q4 revenue of $160 billion to $167 billion and operating income of $7 billion to $11 billion, compared to $2.7 billion in the prior-year period, signaling continued operational momentum heading into the holiday season.