Amazon Stock Surges 13% on Strong Q3 Earnings, AWS Growth Highlights AI Demand
Amazon shares soared more than 13% in after-hours trading after reporting third-quarter revenue of $180.2 billion, a 13% year-over-year increase. Earnings per share reached $1.95, significantly surpassing Wall Street's $1.57 estimate. The rally reflects renewed confidence in the company's Core e-commerce business and its cloud computing division.
Amazon Web Services generated $33 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations of $32.42 billion. The 20.2% annual growth rate marks AWS's strongest performance since 2022, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. CEO Andy Jassy emphasized AWS's pivotal role in enterprise AI adoption, countering recent market share gains by Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
The company's advertising business also outperformed, delivering $17.7 billion in revenue against projections of $17.34 billion. This diversification beyond retail positions Amazon as a multifaceted tech giant, though cryptocurrency-related developments remain absent from this earnings cycle.