Amazon Blows Past Q1 Expectations

Amazon Exceeds Q1 Financial Projections Amazon.com Inc. reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion, a 17% increase year-over-year, surpassing Wall Street forecasts. The company's net income rose to $30 billion from $17 billion in the prior year, driven by a $16.8 billion pre-tax gain from investments in Anthropic. Earnings per share reached $2.78, up from $1.59.

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud division generated $37.6 billion in revenue, marking a 28% growth. This performance contributed to the overall financial beat. However, free cash flow for the trailing 12 months decreased to $1.2 billion, attributed to increased investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Amazon's CEO, Andy Jassy, highlighted the strong performance across various segments, including a 28% growth in AWS, a chips business exceeding a $20 billion revenue run rate, and advertising revenue surpassing $70 billion for the trailing 12 months. Unit growth in the company's Stores segment reached 15%, the highest since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns. The company also noted the box office success of "Project Hail Mary," which grossed nearly $615 million.