Amazon earnings arrive on October 29 after the company reported faster cloud growth and a sharp operating-income increase in the June quarter. Investors will focus on AWS momentum, retail margins, artificial intelligence spending and whether third-quarter sales land within management’s guidance.

Amazon’s investor calendar lists the call for 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. That event date is separate from the July 30 publication date of the company’s second-quarter results.

Amazon earnings date and guidance

Amazon’s investor events page schedules the third-quarter call for October 29. The company previously guided to net sales of $197 billion to $202 billion, representing 9% to 12% year-over-year growth.

Management said calendar effects related to Prime Day complicate the comparison. Excluding Prime Day’s timing in both periods, Amazon estimated that third-quarter growth would be nearly four percentage points higher. The setup differs from the cloud and AI tests outlined in our Microsoft earnings preview.

Amazon earnings will test AWS momentum

Amazon’s July 30 results showed AWS revenue rising 37% to $42.2 billion. The company described that pace as its fastest cloud growth in 18 quarters and said the segment reached a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate.

The original chart below compares Amazon’s first- and second-quarter 2026 results. It uses company-reported figures and does not estimate the third quarter.

Amazon financial comparison ($ billions)

MetricQ1 2026Q2 2026Sequential change
Net sales$181.5$200.6+10.5%
AWS sales$37.6$42.2+12.2%
Operating income$23.9$27.5+15.1%
Source: Amazon. Sequential changes calculated from reported figures.

AWS growth remains the main indicator of enterprise cloud and AI demand. Investors will also compare Amazon’s infrastructure spending with the expected revenue opportunity, a broader issue discussed in our Q4 AI stocks watchlist.

Retail margins and AI spending remain key

Second-quarter operating income rose 43% to $27.5 billion. North America and international retail performance will show whether fulfillment efficiency can offset tariff, labor and input-cost pressures during the holiday build-up.

Artificial intelligence investment creates a second margin test. Strong AWS demand can support infrastructure spending, but investors will watch depreciation, capital expenditures and management’s comments on supply constraints. Amazon’s product expansion, including the Bee Frontier AI wearable, also shows how the company is extending AI beyond cloud infrastructure.

The market reaction will likely depend on the balance between growth and spending. Sales within guidance may not be enough if cloud momentum slows or capital intensity rises faster than operating profit.

Sharron Kendi is a seasoned crypto market analyst and writer with over three years of experience decoding blockchain trends, price movements, and market dynamics. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Finance) from Kenyatta University, blending a solid academic foundation with a sharp eye for technical analysis and a deep understanding of on-chain data. Her work delivers clear, data-driven insights that empower investors to navigate the fast-evolving digital asset space with confidence.