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What Amazon reported for Q2 2026
Amazon.com, Inc. announced its results on July 30, 2026, for the quarter ended June 30. Net sales rose 20% year over year, and operating income increased from the prior-year quarter. The following are reported results, not analyst-consensus estimates.
| Measure | Q2 2026 reported | Q2 2025 | Amazon’s Q2 2026 guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $200.6 billion; up 20% year over year | Not stated in the July 30, 2026, earnings release as summarized here | $194 billion to $199 billion |
| Operating income | $27.5 billion | $19.2 billion | $20 billion to $24 billion |
| Net income | $54.6 billion | $18.2 billion | Not stated in Amazon’s April 29, 2026, guidance |
Sales and operating income came in above Amazon’s own guidance. The company said that guidance assumed Prime Day would occur in Q2; the comparison is against management’s forecast, not Wall Street consensus. Amazon reported the guidance in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, filed April 29, 2026.
Why net income needs context
The earnings release and Form 10-Q report $53.4 billion in other income, primarily reflecting upward valuation adjustments to Amazon’s nonvoting preferred stock in Anthropic and related accounting. That investment-related item helps explain why net income rose so sharply; it is not the same as profit generated by selling retail goods or cloud services.
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AWS growth and profitability
AWS sales increased 37% year over year to $42.2 billion. Segment operating income was $16.6 billion, compared with $10.2 billion in Q2 2025. Dividing the reported operating income by reported sales gives an approximate Q2 operating margin of 39.3%; this is a calculation from Amazon’s figures, not a separately reported company margin.
In the July 30 earnings release, Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy said: “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.” The 36.7% figure is the precise growth rate in Jassy’s statement; Amazon’s headline segment figure rounds it to 37%.
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AI run rates are not reported segment revenue
Jassy’s more-than-$25-billion figures describe run rates for Amazon’s AI and chips businesses. They are management’s annualized pace descriptions, not reported Q2 revenue figures for separate segments. The reported AWS sales figure is the clearer measure for assessing the cloud segment’s actual quarterly scale.
Infrastructure investment: growth comes with a large cash commitment
Amazon reported cash capital expenditures of $53.1 billion in Q2 2026, compared with $31.4 billion in Q2 2025. For the first half of 2026, cash capital expenditures totaled $96.3 billion, versus $55.6 billion in the first half of 2025. These are cash outlays, not operating expenses or a measure of depreciation.
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Amazon said the spending primarily reflected technology infrastructure—most of it supporting AWS growth—and additional fulfillment capacity. In the July 30 release, management also expected approximately $220 billion in capital expenditures across 2026. That is a forward-looking expectation as of the release, not a completed full-year spend figure.
The business question is whether the additional infrastructure can produce returns commensurate with its cost. Faster AWS growth and higher AWS operating income are relevant evidence of demand and current segment profitability, but the reported quarter does not establish the future returns on the full investment program.
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Advertising and retail context
Advertising services revenue was $17.9 billion, up 26% year over year, according to Amazon’s July 30 earnings release. Amazon also reported sales growth in its North America and International segments. The release discussed new AI advertising tools as company initiatives, but it did not establish that AI caused the advertising growth or all retail gains.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Amazon disclosed about tariffs
Amazon’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, filed July 31, 2026, says Q2 cost of sales included tariff refunds received under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The filing also identifies tariff and trade policy as factors that could affect future performance.
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Those disclosures establish that refunds affected reported cost of sales and that trade policy remains a stated risk. They do not quantify Amazon’s complete net tariff cost or benefit for the quarter, isolate effects on customer prices, or determine how policy will develop. The available figures therefore do not support assigning a specific overall Q2 earnings impact to tariffs.
Risks to weigh alongside the results
Amazon’s earnings release and Form 10-Q identify several factors that could affect future performance. They are company-disclosed risks, not predictions that a particular outcome will occur:
- Tariff and trade policy changes.
- Volatility in memory-chip supply.
- Foreign-exchange movements and energy prices.
- Macroeconomic conditions, inflation, and interest rates.
- Customer demand and spending.
How to read the quarter as an investor
Three kinds of evidence should be kept distinct. First are reported accounting results, such as AWS sales, operating income, and cash capital expenditures. Second are management statements, including AI and chips run rates and the expected 2026 capital-spending level. Third is the judgment investors must make about whether the spending will earn adequate future returns. Amazon’s July 2026 disclosures provide the first two; they do not settle the third.
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