Amazon earnings recap: AWS comes through big as Q1 tops expectationsNEWS | 30 April 2026Earnings per share were $2.78, well above the $1.62 estimate, driven in part by its investment in Anthropic. Net sales came in at $181.5 billion, above an estimate of $177.2 billion.
Amazon crushed expectations in the first quarter, but left investors wanting more on AI.
The company's closely watched Amazon Web Services segment posted its best growth quarter in about four years. Revenue rose 28% to $37.6 billion. AWS revenue has been a key metric for investors as Amazon has been pouring money into its cloud and AI capabilities in recent quarters.
Still, capital expenditures for the quarter totaled $43.2 billion, and the company didn't provide fresh capex guidance. In February, it said it planned to spend $200 billion on capex this year, much of it focused on AI infrastructure.
"The headlines look fantastic, but if you peel it back, there are a few negatives that could drag on the stock," David Bartosiak, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, wrote after Amazon reported its results on Wednesday.
In a welcome update on Amazon's chip business, CEO Andy Jassy signaled that the company could begin selling full racks of its Trainium AI chips to external providers within the "next couple of years." Jassy is hugely bullish on the chips business, so much so that he took a rare shot at Nvidia when talking about the project in his letter to shareholders earlier this month.
The stock has had a strong run in 2026, and investors seem to think the party can continue.
Shares were up about 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the earnings report and call ended.Author: Retail Reporter. Every Time. Look Out For An Alert In Your Inbox The Next Time. More Stories. Amazon Reporter. Source
