# Amazon Q3 earnings preview

Business · Heat 10.0 / 10 · 8 shows · 1h 7m airtime

Amazon reported third-quarter 2026 earnings after the close on October 29, missing EPS at $1.89 and revenue at $201.9 billion. AWS grew 39.3% to $46 billion, meeting estimates while Google and Microsoft posted larger cloud beats, and shares fell almost 9% after hours. The company guided Q4 operating income below expectations at the midpoint, though net sales of $240-247 billion landed in line with the $244.5 billion estimate, and Andy Jassy projects AWS growth above 40% in 2027 and 2028 and says retail can double by 2032 without one incremental hire. Discussion now weighs that outlook and a $496 billion AWS backlog against a $42.4 billion trailing free cash outflow and about $220 billion in annual capex.

Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/amazon_q3_earnings_preview_4194230528

## Segments

- [Bloomberg Tech](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergtech), 2026-10-29, 37:53 to 40:42: **Previews AWS growth near 40 percent**. Previews Amazon's earnings with Bloomberg's Matt Day: AWS growth expected just shy of 40%, capex guided near $220 billion, and the case that AI in Alexa and retail lifts the rest of the business. New angle: AWS growth is expected just shy of 40%, with AI lab business finally materializing as revenue.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 0:49 to 13:01: **Previews AWS growth and the $496 billion backlog**. Previews Amazon's report with the Street at 38% AWS growth and a whisper number in the low 40s, then works through capex, free cash flow and funding. Adds the backlog figure and the debt raised over the past year as the panel's test of whether the build-out is paid for. New angle: AWS backlog stands at $496 billion, and Amazon raised $100 billion in debt over the last 12 months.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 38:27 to 45:25: **Adds options positioning pricing an 8% move**. Pre-earnings market-zone segment on Amazon, Starbucks and Intel. The Amazon portion adds options positioning: traders price an 8% move, well above the under-6% norm, and one trade sells a 220 put against a 330 call for June. New angle: Options traders are pricing an 8% move in Amazon, versus less than 6% in the past two years.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 4:52 to 6:31: **Reports the actual Amazon print**. Reports the actual Amazon print: a seven-cent EPS miss at $1.89 and revenue of $201.9 billion, with AWS growth of 39.3% and AWS revenue of $46 billion both beating while North America and online stores came in light. The stock fell almost 9% after hours. New angle: Amazon missed EPS at $1.89 and revenue at $201.9 billion; AWS grew 39.3% to $46 billion, and shares fell almost 9% after hours.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 16:06 to 18:19: **Picks up Amazon's light Q4 guidance**. Picks up the post-print thread on Amazon's guidance: Q4 operating income and sales both light at the midpoint, capex reaffirmed at $220 billion, and Jassy's release quote projecting AWS growth above 40% in 2027 and 2028. Also flags Morgan Stanley's read that the buy side wanted 44% AWS growth. New angle: Amazon guided Q4 operating income and sales below expectations at the midpoint, and Jassy projects AWS growth above 40% in 2027 and 2028.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 18:19 to 21:48: **Reads the drop as a retail problem**. Maxim's Tom Forte reads the after-hours drop as a retail problem, not an AWS one: higher gas prices and a tough macro backdrop heading into the big fourth quarter. He keeps his buy and $350 target and expects a rebound, and flags trust as the hurdle for agentic commerce.
- [Closing Bell](https://boilpoints.com/u/closingbell), 2026-10-29, 39:26 to 44:02: **Argues retail is not existentially broken**. Tim Seymour reacts to Amazon's post-earnings drop, arguing retail is not existentially broken and the AWS whisper number got too high. Opinion and framing on the quarter, with no new development in the story.
- [Bloomberg Tech](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergtech), 2026-10-29, 5:47 to 7:15: **Recaps AWS meeting estimates as shares fall**. Covers Amazon's third-quarter print: AWS met rather than beat at 39% growth while Google and Microsoft posted big cloud beats, and shares fell about 6.7% after hours. Rana argues the guidance above 40% into 2027 and 2028 is the strong part. New angle: AWS met estimates at 39% growth while Google and Microsoft posted big cloud beats.
- [Bloomberg Tech](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergtech), 2026-10-29, 7:15 to 8:50: **Breaks down Amazon's capex and cash outflow**. Rana walks through Amazon's spending: roughly $220 billion in annual cash capex and a $42.4 billion trailing-twelve-month free cash flow outflow, defended by AWS operating margins near 39% and a cloud run rate of about $180 billion growing 40% a year. New angle: Amazon's trailing-twelve-month free cash flow is an outflow of $42.4 billion against about $220 billion in annual cash capex.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-10-29, 5:47 to 7:15: **Reads the print as merely matching cloud growth**. Rana reads the print as Amazon merely meeting 39% cloud growth while Google and Microsoft beat, and flags the Q4 sales guide as in line with the $244.5 billion estimate. The after-hours drop is put at about 6.7%, a smaller figure than earlier coverage. New angle: Amazon guided Q4 net sales to $240-247 billion, in line with the $244.5 billion estimate.
- [Bloomberg Surveillance](https://boilpoints.com/u/bloombergsurveillance), 2026-10-29, 7:15 to 8:50: **Defends Amazon capex against cash outflow**. Rana defends Amazon's roughly $220 billion cash capex against a trailing twelve-month free cash outflow of $42.4 billion, leaning on AWS margins near 39% and a cloud run rate of about $180 billion growing 40% a year. The outflow figure is new to the record; the capex number is not. New angle: Amazon's trailing twelve-month free cash flow is an outflow of $42.4 billion.
- [Prof G Markets](https://boilpoints.com/u/profgmarkets), 2026-10-30, 50:53 to 57:07: **Argues AWS wins the neocloud shakeout**. Runs through the neocloud shakeout thesis and lands on AWS as a winner: the $496 billion backlog, up from $200 billion three quarters earlier, and the argument that only Alphabet and Meta have both a frontier model and their own compute. The Amazon numbers are a recap of the earnings card.
- [Prof G Markets](https://boilpoints.com/u/profgmarkets), 2026-10-30, 59:21 to 1:00:42: **Pitches Amazon retail as the 2026 unlock**. Brown makes his 2026 big-tech pick Amazon, arguing the retail unit, not AWS, is the unlock: industrialized robots plus AI could double retail by 2032 with no new hires, and a robots-as-a-service model could follow AWS's outward turn. A forward-looking pitch built on Jassy's claim, not on the quarter. New angle: Jassy says Amazon can double its retail business by 2032 without one incremental hire.
- [WSJ What's News](https://boilpoints.com/u/wsjwhatsnews), 2026-10-30, 4:51 to 6:40: **Reports Amazon's $20 billion quarterly net income**. Runs through both Intel and Amazon's after-hours drops, but the Amazon half adds a figure not yet on the record: $20 billion in quarterly net income, set against the $220 billion capex plan and flat shares over the past year. New angle: Amazon reported $20 billion in net income for the quarter.
- [Tech Brew Ride Home](https://boilpoints.com/u/techbrewridehome), 2026-10-30, 8:46 to 11:27: **Breaks down Amazon's capex and cash outflow**. Walks through Amazon's third-quarter numbers: $77 billion of quarterly capex, 2% online sales growth, an 11% advertising gain and a $42.4 billion free cash outflow, with Jassy flagging higher 2027 outlays. Then pivots to the hosts' own question about what Amazon is actually building. New angle: Amazon spent over $77 billion on property and equipment in Q3 and posted a $42.4 billion trailing free cash outflow.
- [The AI Daily Brief](https://boilpoints.com/u/theaidailybrief), 2026-10-30, 5:25 to 8:09: **Weighs AI revenue against the cash burn**. Walks the Amazon and Intel earnings and the day's tech selloff, arguing AI revenue is still surging while legacy units slow and must fund the build-out. Cites Jassy's 40%-plus AWS growth projection for 2027 and 2028. New angle: Amazon is cash flow negative by $42.4 billion over the past 12 months; Intel's foundry grows 58% on a $1.9 billion quarterly operating loss.
- [The Information's TITV](https://boilpoints.com/u/theinformationstitv), 2026-10-30, 11:51 to 23:38: **Previews Q3 with a Wells Fargo analyst**. Works through Amazon's Q3 print with a Wells Fargo analyst: the Prime Day shift explains the retail deceleration, advertising lags Meta, and Trainium is framed as internal inference capacity, with external sales not expected until late 2027. New angle: Amazon expects Trainium chip deliveries for external sales by the end of 2027, with 2028 the bigger factor.