• Amazon reported Q3 EPS of $1.95, significantly beating the $1.58 analyst estimate.
  • Net sales reached $180.17 billion, exceeding expectations of $177.82 billion, while AWS revenue hit $33.01 billion.
  • The strong performance comes amid aggressive AI infrastructure investment and ongoing corporate restructuring efforts.

Amazon delivered a stronger-than-anticipated third quarter, with earnings and revenue clearing Wall Street's bar as its cloud and advertising units continued to show robust growth. The tech giant reported earnings per share of $1.95 on net sales of $180.17 billion, according to its earnings release after market close on Thursday.

The results underscore the company's momentum heading into the critical holiday quarter. Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division that serves as the company's primary profit engine, posted net sales of $33.01 billion, surpassing the $32.39 billion analysts had forecast. The performance reflects steady enterprise adoption despite increased competition in the cloud sector.

"We are seeing strong engagement from customers across our major businesses," a company spokesperson said in a statement. Efforts to reach CFO Brian Olsavsky for additional comment were not immediately successful.

The quarter's performance, which represents approximately 12% year-over-year sales growth, comes as Amazon executes on an aggressive capital expenditure plan expected to reach roughly $118 billion for full-year 2025. The spending is heavily weighted toward AI-driven data center expansion and infrastructure, positioning the company in a fierce race with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

Meanwhile, the company continues its corporate restructuring, with reports indicating ongoing layoffs affecting between 14,000 to 30,000 positions this year. These cost-reduction measures, partly related to automation initiatives and reversing pandemic-era overhiring, are expected to yield substantial savings, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amazon's digital advertising segment remains another bright spot, growing at a 22-23% year-over-year rate. The diversified revenue streams have helped insulate the company from economic headwinds that have impacted more consumer-dependent retailers.

Looking ahead, analysts will scrutinize the company's Q4 guidance, as the holiday shopping season typically represents Amazon's strongest quarter. The company has expanded its logistics and fulfillment capabilities to handle anticipated volume, though global economic uncertainty could temper consumer spending.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the year of the earnings report. The results are for the third quarter of 2025.