Amazon stock (NASDAQ: AMZN) surged as much as 10% in extended trading on Thursday after the company delivered its strongest AWS growth in more than four years, providing evidence that its artificial-intelligence spending is producing returns. AWS sales jumped 37% to $42.2 billion, accelerating from 28% in the previous quarter and beating Wall Street's expectation of about 31%.
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Amazon launches AWS Forward Deployed Engineering with a $1B investment to boost AI deployment. Demand for forward-deployed engineers has soared since early 2025.
On Amazon's first-quarter earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy described agentic artificial intelligence as a work in progress. Well, progress has been made.
Amazon.com, Inc. delivered a strong Q2, with revenue growth accelerating to 20% and a substantial earnings beat, primarily driven by AWS performance. AWS revenues surged 37% year-over-year, with robust margin expansion, validating Amazon's heavy investment in cloud infrastructure despite near-term free cash flow pressure. AMZN's aggressive capital expenditures, totaling $54 billion in Q2, are fueling growth but have resulted in a $9 billion free cash flow burn, raising balance sheet considerations.
Despite plenty of uncertainty on some of the bigger economic issues, Q2 earnings season rolls along quite successfully to this point.
Although the revenue and EPS for Amazon (AMZN) give a sense of how its business performed in the quarter ended June 2026, it might be worth considering how some key metrics compare with Wall Street estimates and the year-ago numbers.
Amazon.com, Inc. delivered a standout Q2 with accelerating e-commerce growth, robust AWS performance, and expanding margins. Optionalities like Amazon Now, robotics, and LEO satellites are maturing, strengthening AMZN's ecosystem and supporting high revenue growth. AWS posted 37% YoY revenue growth and 39.4% margin, outpacing Microsoft's cloud growth and underscoring strong AI and chip tailwinds.
Amazon doesn't need to build the best AI model to win. AI strengthens Amazon's entire business ecosystem.
The AI race has been about who has the best model. That is changing.