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Amazon.com Inc.: Q2 FY2026 earnings call

What management said about Q2 FY2026, from the documents filed with the SEC on 30 July 2026: press release. Guidance figures: 4 new. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Net sales and operating income rose: Net sales were $200.6 billion, up 20%. Operating income was $27.5 billion, up 43% from $19.2 billion. The $0.1 billion favorable currency effect on sales was small. Source
  • AWS sales and operating income rose: AWS sales were $42.2 billion and AWS operating income was $16.6 billion, compared with $10.2 billion a year earlier. The AWS segment margin was 39.4%. Source
  • AI business passed $25B run rate: The AWS AI business exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate, growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year. Source
  • Third quarter net sales guidance: Net sales are expected between $197.0 billion and $202.0 billion, growth of 9% to 12% over third quarter 2025. Source
  • Third quarter operating income guidance: Operating income is expected between $22.5 billion and $26.5 billion, against $17.4 billion in the third quarter 2025. Source
  • Trailing free cash flow turned to outflow: Free cash flow was an outflow of $7.6 billion for the trailing twelve months, versus an inflow of $18.2 billion a year earlier. Source

“AWS is booming, growing 36.7% year-over-year in Q2 - our fastest growth in 18 quarters - and our AI and Chips businesses each eclipsed run rates of more than $25 billion,”

Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon

Guidance

AreaPeriodFigureAgainst last quarter
Net sales Sourcethird quarter 2026between $197.0 billion and $202.0 billion, or to grow between 9% and 12%New
Net sales growth excluding Prime Day timing Sourcethird quarter 2026nearly 400 basis points higherNew
Foreign exchange impact on net sales Sourcethird quarter 2026unfavorable impact of approximately 80 basis pointsNew
Operating income Sourcethird quarter 2026between $22.5 billion and $26.5 billionNew

What changed from last quarter

  • New guidance: The company gave third quarter 2026 guidance for net sales and operating income. Source
  • New: NHTSA approved Zoox to charge for rides under a Part 555 Exemption, the first purpose-built robotaxi to receive it. Source
  • New: Graviton5 moved into general availability, with management citing up to 25% better compute performance than Graviton4. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Net sales and operating income rose: Net sales were $200.6 billion, up 20%. Operating income was $27.5 billion, up 43% from $19.2 billion. The $0.1 billion favorable currency effect on sales was small. Source
  • Net income and diluted EPS rose: Net income was $62.6 billion, or $5.75 per diluted share, including $53.4 billion of non-operating pre-tax other income, primarily from investments in Anthropic. Source
  • Quarter compared with April guidance: The April 29 guidance was net sales of $194.0 billion to $199.0 billion and operating income of $20.0 billion to $24.0 billion. Reported figures were $200.6 billion and $27.5 billion.

Segments and regions

  • North America sales and profit grew: North America operating income was $9.1 billion, compared with $7.5 billion in the second quarter 2025. Source
  • International sales up 15%: International operating income was $1.7 billion, compared with $1.5 billion a year earlier, on sales of $42.2 billion. Source
  • AWS sales and operating income rose: AWS sales were $42.2 billion and AWS operating income was $16.6 billion, compared with $10.2 billion a year earlier. The AWS segment margin was 39.4%. Source

“There’s a lot to be excited about, and we have much more coming for customers in the second half of the year and beyond.”

Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon

AI, chips and Bedrock growth

  • AI business passed $25B run rate: The AWS AI business exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate, growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year. Source
  • Chips business also passed $25B: The chips business exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate, also growing triple digits year-over-year. Source
  • Trainium commitments from two AI labs: Anthropic and OpenAI made multi-year, multi-gigawatt Trainium commitments, and an increasing number of AI start-ups adopted Trainium. Source
  • Bedrock customer adoption accelerated: Hundreds of thousands of customers use Bedrock. More customers were added in the last six months than in its first two years, and Q2 spend exceeded all prior quarters combined. Source

Stores, delivery and advertising

  • Prime delivery speeds set records: Management said it again set record delivery speeds for Prime members in the first half, with more items delivered same-day or overnight. Source
  • Amazon Now grew fast quarter-over-quarter: Amazon Now, offering delivery in 30 minutes or less, added 80 new U.S. cities and towns and several cities in Egypt. Gross sales and units grew over 80% quarter-over-quarter. Source
  • Online stores sales rose 15%: Online stores net sales were $70.4 billion, up 15%. Physical stores net sales were $5.8 billion, up 4%. Source
  • Advertising services rose 26%: Advertising services revenue was $19.8 billion, up 26% year-over-year. Advertisers using Ads Agent saw 8% lower cost-per-impression. Source

Costs, margins and shipping

  • Worldwide operating margin rose to 13.7%: Operating margin was 13.7% of worldwide net sales, compared with 11.4% in the second quarter 2025. Source
  • Technology and infrastructure costs rose: Technology and infrastructure expense was $33.2 billion, up from $27.2 billion. Sales and marketing was $11.7 billion, up from $11.4 billion. Source
  • Shipping costs grew 19%: Worldwide shipping costs were $27.9 billion, up 19% year-over-year, compared with 14% growth in the first quarter. Source
  • Currency cut operating income $105 million: Foreign exchange was an unfavorable $105 million impact on operating income in the quarter. Source

Third quarter 2026 guidance

  • Third quarter growth excluding Prime Day: Management said that excluding Prime Day in both years, third quarter growth would be nearly 400 basis points higher. Source
  • Third quarter net sales guidance: Net sales are expected between $197.0 billion and $202.0 billion, growth of 9% to 12% over third quarter 2025. Source
  • Third quarter operating income guidance: Operating income is expected between $22.5 billion and $26.5 billion, against $17.4 billion in the third quarter 2025. Source

Cash flow, debt and capital

  • Trailing free cash flow turned to outflow: Free cash flow was an outflow of $7.6 billion for the trailing twelve months, versus an inflow of $18.2 billion a year earlier. Source
  • Operating cash flow grew 33%: Operating cash flow was $161.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $121.1 billion a year earlier. Source
  • Capital spending rose sharply: Purchases of property and equipment were $54.2 billion in the second quarter, against $32.2 billion a year earlier, and $173.0 billion over twelve months. Source
  • Long-term debt rose to $128.9 billion: Long-term debt was $128.9 billion at June 30, 2026, up from $65.6 billion at December 31, 2025. Cash and securities totaled about $123.0 billion. Source

Strategy and new services

  • Alexa for Shopping combines Rufus and Alexa+: Rufus and Alexa+ were combined into Alexa for Shopping. Active users close to doubled, and interactions rose over 5x year-over-year. Source
  • AWS Forward Deployed Engineering investment: AWS committed $1 billion to create Forward Deployed Engineering, a team of AI engineers embedded with customers. Early customers include the Allen Institute and the NBA. Source
  • Supply chain service opened to any business: Amazon Supply Chain Services lets any business move, store, and deliver goods. Procter & Gamble, 3M, Lands’ End and American Eagle Outfitters are among first customers. Source
  • Secret Cloud for Industry became generally available: AWS Secret Cloud for Industry is generally available, with Northrop Grumman first to run classified workloads on the platform. Source

Workforce and operations

  • Headcount rose 3%: Employees, full-time and part-time and excluding contractors, totaled 1,595,000, up 3% year-over-year. Source
  • Next-generation Proteus robot introduced: The Proteus robot moves goods up to 1,300 pounds to help fulfillment center employees with heavy lifting. Employees can direct it in conversational language. Source
  • Data centers more water-efficient: Global data centers were over 7x more water-efficient than the industry average, according to management. Source

Coming up, as management said on 30 July 2026

  • Initial Leo satellite service this year: Management said Amazon Leo has nearly 400 satellites in orbit, enough to begin initial satellite internet service this year. Source
  • Zoox paid rides planned: Management said the NHTSA approval paves the way for Zoox to begin paid commercial service. No start date is given. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Inventory Source$38,184 million at June 30, 2026, versus $38,325 million at December 31, 2025
E-commerce: online stores net sales Source$70,432 million, up 15% year-over-year

Earlier plans management reported on

  • Not stated: Management said it reached 75% progress toward the 2030 water-positive goal for global data center operations. Source
  • Ahead: Management said India direct operations achieved water-positive status ahead of the 2027 target. Source
  • Not stated: The prior release planned 20+ further launches. This release reports four additional launches completed.
  • Not stated: The prior release planned continued Amazon Now expansion this year. This release reports 80 new U.S. cities and towns and several Egyptian cities added.

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.