That wraps up our initial coverage of Amazon’s Q2 results. Thank you for stopping by!
Advertising revenue grew 26% year over year, giving Amazon another rapidly expanding, high-margin business alongside AWS.
The retail operation also remained healthy. North American sales increased 16%, International sales rose 15%, and Amazon delivered over 40% more items through same-day or overnight shipping during the first half of 2026.
This shows that Amazon had a broad-based growth quarter, not simply an AWS-driven beat.
Amazon’s trailing-12-month operating cash flow increased 33% to $161.4 billion, but free cash flow swung from an $18.2 billion inflow to a $7.6 billion outflow.
The reversal reflects an additional $66.1 billion in annual property and equipment spending, primarily for AI infrastructure.
Amazon purchased $173.0 billion of property and equipment over the past year, underscoring the enormous cost of supporting AWS’s reacceleration.
Amazon revealed that both its AWS AI business and proprietary chip business have surpassed $25 billion annual revenue run rates, with each growing at triple-digit rates.
Trainium is also gaining meaningful outside validation. Amazon disclosed multiyear, multi-gigawatt commitments from Anthropic and OpenAI, strengthening the case that its custom silicon can become a major alternative to traditional AI accelerators.
Amazon just reported Q2 earnings, with shares initially up 6% following the report. Here are the key numbers:
Quick Read:
Amazon delivered a broad beat, with revenue exceeding estimates by approximately $3.6 billion and operating income topping expectations by nearly $3.9 billion.
AWS was the standout, beating estimates by $1.66 billion and providing early validation for Amazon’s enormous AI infrastructure investments.
This live blog is being updated by Thomas Richmond, a 24/7 Wall St. contributor. You’ll get expert analysis of Amazon’s earnings.
Simply stay on this page, and new updates will appear below automatically. We expect Amazon to release earnings shortly after 4:00 p.m. ET.
Investors will be listening for Amazon’s Q3 and full-year guidance, after recent forecasts that 2026 capex is tracking above $200 billion. Amazon typically guides conservatively, then beats: it has topped EPS estimates in all 11 recent releases, with surprises usually landing in the 22%-26% range.
Bullish scenario: Q3 revenue guide above $200 billion, operating income above $24 billion, AWS growth sustained above 25%, and capex framed as demand-driven with clear ROI.
Bearish scenario: AWS decelerating below 24%, a wide low-end on operating income signaling tariff or consumer weakness, or capex creep beyond $200 billion without margin visibility.
Investors want specifics on AWS margin (37.7% in Q1), advertising trajectory, and Amazon Leo cost ramp. Guidance drives the after-hours move more than the beat itself.
With the earnings report under 30 minutes away, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is bouncing hard, up 4.71% intraday to $237.32. The full-chain put/call ratio sits at 0.54, with tomorrow’s expiry skewed even more bullish at 0.47.
Consensus sits at $1.8227 EPS on $196.4 billion in revenue. Watch three thresholds:
History favors bulls, with 10 beats in 11 quarters, though day-of reactions have swung from -8.78% to +9.58%.
Ahead of tonight’s Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) call, here’s what to watch beyond the headline numbers.
Amazon reports Q2 2026 earnings after today’s close, with Wall Street expecting adjusted EPS of $1.82 on approximately $196.4 billion in revenue. Polymarket traders assign a 96.2% probability of an earnings beat, even as Amazon shares have fallen 7.43% over the past week.
AWS growth and Amazon’s enormous capital spending program will likely drive the reaction. With annual capex expected to surpass $200 billion, investors need evidence that cloud demand can justify the investment.
A clean beat with AWS growth holding near 28% would strengthen the AI infrastructure thesis. Slower AWS growth or weaker margins could revive concerns that Amazon is spending too aggressively.
Live coverage has ended. The full story is below.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) will be reporting Q2 2026 earnings results tonight at around 4:00 PM ET. AWS acceleration, Prime Day contribution, and a $200B AI infrastructure buildout put this report at the center of the current Mag 7 earnings week.
Q1 2026 set a high bar. Amazon delivered $2.78 EPS versus a $1.64 estimate, revenue of $181.52B, up 16.6% YoY, and operating income of $23.85B, up 30%. AWS grew 28%, its fastest in 15 quarters, with a 37.7% operating margin.
Since then, shares have cooled. AMZN closed at $226.65 yesterday, down 5.62% over one month and 1.81% YTD. Andy Jassy framed the setup bluntly: “We’re in the middle of some of the biggest inflections of our lifetime, we’re well positioned to lead, and I’m very optimistic about what’s ahead.”
| Metric | Q2 2026 Estimate | Company Guidance | FY 2026 | FY 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $196.4B | $194.0B to $199.0B | N/A | N/A |
| EPS (Normalized) | $1.82 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Operating Income | N/A | $20.0B to $24.0B | N/A | N/A |
Revenue guidance implies 16%-19% YoY growth, an acceleration from Q1. The operating income band, compared with $19.2B a year ago, reflects pressure from a $1B step-up in Leo satellite costs and elevated AI depreciation.
Tonight, I’ll be watching AWS growth first. Sustaining 28% on this base would validate the company’s capex thesis. Any deceleration reopens the debate that dogged shares through July.
Trainium and Graviton are a second item to watch. Amazon’s chip business hit a $20B+ revenue run rate, growing in the triple digits, with OpenAI committing ~2 GW of Trainium capacity starting in 2027 and Anthropic up to 5 GW. Bedrock adoption also matters: Q1 processed more tokens than all prior periods combined, with 170% QoQ growth in customer spend.
Investors will also focus on margins. AWS operating margin slipped to 37.7% from 39.5% a year earlier as depreciation ramps. North America margin, by contrast, expanded to 7.9% from 6.3%. Advertising, now over $70B TTM and up 24%, remains a sneaky profit lever.
Finally, the tone on tariffs. Management flagged FX, trade policy, and memory chip supply as Q2 risks, and Polymarket traders assign a 94.5% chance the call mentions tariffs.
| Quarter | EPS Surprise | Day-Of Move | 1-Day Move | 1-Week Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | +60.69% | +0.77% | +1.21% | +2.31% |
| Q4 2025 | 0% | -5.55% | -0.76% | -5.48% |
| Q3 2025 | +26.62% | +9.58% | +4.00% | +0.08% |
| Q2 2025 | +26.32% | -8.27% | -1.44% | +3.70% |
On average, shares moved 2.72% in the week after an earnings beat over the past year.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Thomas Richmond is a financial writer and content strategist with 5+ years of experience covering stocks and financial markets. He has published over 250 articles focused on individual stock analysis, helping investors better understand business fundamentals, stock valuations, and long-term opportunities.
Thomas previously served as a Content Lead at TIKR, a stock research platform, where he helped scale the company’s blog to hundreds of articles per month and contributed to a weekly newsletter reaching more than 100,000 investors.
He specializes in breaking down complex companies into clear, actionable insights for everyday investors, with a focus on fundamentals-driven research.
His work has also been featured on platforms including Seeking Alpha and Sure Dividend.
Outside of work, Thomas enjoys weight lifting and soccer.
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