• Amazon beats Q3 2025 estimates for EPS, revenue, and AWS sales
  • Operating margin of 9.7% falls short of analyst expectations
  • Company issues robust Q4 guidance, projecting revenue up to $213 billion

Amazon delivered a stronger-than-expected third quarter, with earnings per share of $1.95 comfortably beating the $1.57 estimate and revenue reaching $180.2 billion against projections of $177.8 billion. The company's cloud division, AWS, posted $33.0 billion in sales, exceeding the $32.4 billion forecast.

Despite the top-line strength, operating margin came in at 9.7%, below the 11.1% analysts had anticipated. This margin compression occurred even as the company maintained elevated profitability relative to many historical quarters.

"We're seeing accelerated growth in our advertising business and continued recovery in AWS," said a company spokesperson in prepared remarks. "Our investments in artificial intelligence and logistics automation are paying dividends across the business."

The e-commerce giant's advertising unit, which posted 22% year-over-year growth last quarter, continues to be a significant profit driver alongside AWS. Amazon's core retail operations benefited from robust consumer spending and improvements in delivery speed and supply chain efficiency.

Looking ahead, Amazon issued bullish guidance for the critical holiday quarter, projecting revenue between $206 billion and $213 billion with operating income expected to land between $21 billion and $26 billion. This outlook suggests confidence in both consumer demand and enterprise cloud spending through year-end.

Foreign exchange rates provided a slight tailwind to annual growth, according to people familiar with the company's calculations. The guidance appears to factor in continued momentum in high-margin segments like advertising and cloud services.

Amazon's performance mirrors broader strength in the technology sector, where cloud computing and digital advertising have driven results for multiple companies this earnings season. The company continues to invest heavily in emerging initiatives including Project Kuiper satellite broadband and pharmacy services, though these segments remain in earlier growth phases.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the operating margin comparison. The 9.7% result was below estimates but represents an elevated level historically for Amazon's retail operations.