Amazon nears $3 trillion valuation as AWS powers record growth

Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 2.09% Web Services posted $42.2 billion in second-quarter revenue, a 37% year-over-year increase that beat Wall Street expectations and marked the cloud unit's fastest quarterly growth in 18 quarters. The results, reported on July 30, have propelled Amazon's market capitalization to approximately $3 trillion.cnbc+1

Cloud Dominance Drives Profit

AWS accounted for 21% of Amazon's total quarterly revenue of $200.6 billion but contributed 60% of the company's operating profit, with segment operating income reaching $16.6 billion — up from $10.2 billion a year earlier. The unit's operating margin climbed to 39.3%, nearly six times the combined margin of Amazon's retail segments.ts2+1

Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount had expected AWS revenue of $40.54 billion, making the beat substantial. The growth rate accelerated sharply from 28% in the first quarter and 24% the quarter before that, representing a fifth consecutive quarter of acceleration.allinvestview+2

CEO Andy Jassy said in the company's earnings announcement: "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."aboutamazon+1

AI Spending Fuels Growth — and Risk

The acceleration is tied to surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. AWS's backlog surged to $496 billion, growing at triple-digit rates year over year, with the company stating it will be unable to meet all customer demand through 2028. Amazon's capital expenditure guidance rose to $220 billion, with the bulk directed toward AI capacity.theglobeandmail+1

That spending has pushed Amazon's trailing twelve-month free cash flow to negative $7.6 billion, compared with positive $18.2 billion in the prior year period. CNBC parent Comcast reported the results drove Amazon shares up roughly 15% on July 31, the day after earnings were released.deadline+2

Market Reaction and Outlook

Amazon's stock closed at $278.09 on Tuesday, August 11, up 1.32% on the session and roughly 19% for 2026, briefly touching the $3 trillion market-cap threshold. Jeff Bezos filed a plan to sell $4.07 billion in shares, though the sale had been scheduled more than eight months in advance.scanx+2

For the third quarter, Amazon projected revenue between $197 billion and $202 billion and operating income of $22.5 billion to $26.5 billion, representing approximately 41% growth at the midpoint. Of 60 analysts tracked by MarketBeat, 57 recommend buying the stock, with a mean price target of $312.83.ts2