Amazon Web Services reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $45.98 billion, up 39% year-over-year, exceeding the StreetAccount consensus estimate of $45.29 billion [1]. The growth acceleration marks AWS's fastest expansion rate since Q4 2021, up from approximately 37% growth in Q2 [1]. Operating income surged 55% to $17.77 billion, significantly outpacing the consensus estimate of $16.97 billion [1]. AWS now represents a record 23% of Amazon's total revenue [1].
CEO Andy Jassy attributed the strong performance to accelerating core compute and storage revenue, stating that "our core compute and storage revenue grew at their fastest rates in several years" [1]. The company announced aggressive expansion plans, including increased purchases of Nvidia chips for AI workloads and the acquisition of data analysis startup DuckLabs, along with strategic deals signed with Meta and OpenAI [1]. AWS also plans to make its Trainium chips available outside AWS facilities in late 2027, following Google's successful strategy of offering tensor processing units externally [1].
The cloud computing sector is experiencing broad-based acceleration, with AWS's growth occurring alongside similar momentum at competitors. Google Cloud more than doubled in Q3, while Microsoft's Azure has grown to 72% of AWS's size, up from 58% two years ago [1]. Looking ahead, Jassy expressed confidence in AWS's trajectory, projecting growth "north of 40% in each of 2027 and in 2028" and positioning the business to become a "trillion-dollar revenue business in the next five to 10 years" [1].
CONCLUSION
AWS's 39% revenue growth and 55% operating income surge, combined with aggressive AI infrastructure investments and forward guidance for 40%+ growth through 2028, signals robust demand for cloud services and AI capabilities. The company's market leadership position remains intact despite accelerating competition from Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, with all three cloud giants racing to expand AI data center capacity. AWS's confidence in achieving trillion-dollar revenue status within a decade underscores the substantial market opportunity in cloud computing and AI infrastructure.