In the second quarter of 2026, Amazon achieved strong revenue and profit growth. Net sales rose by 20% year-on-year, while operating profit increased by 43 per cent. The results were mainly driven by continued strong demand for cloud and AI services from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Revenue showed an increase of 20% compared with the same period last year. AWS, Amazon’s cloud division, posted revenue growth of 37% – its fastest growth in years – thanks to rising demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Operating profit rose to $27.5 billion, an increase of 43% year-on-year. This meant Amazon clearly performed better than a year earlier, with both its North American retail operations and AWS making an important contribution.
Chief executive Andy Jassy said investments in AI were starting to pay off. According to him, demand for generative AI solutions continued to grow and Amazon is investing heavily in data centres, chips and cloud capacity to meet that demand.
In addition to AWS, the advertising division also continued to perform strongly, while the e-commerce activities benefited from high consumer spending and further improvements in logistics efficiency.
In the coming quarters, investors will mainly focus on the further growth of AWS and the returns on Amazon’s substantial investments in AI infrastructure. Together with Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta, the company is among the world’s largest investors in artificial intelligence.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Oracle issued around $194 billion in bonds up to and including 7 July 2026, according to a Reuters analysis of data from LSEG. That is 79% more than the roughly $108 billion they spent in the whole of 2025.
Goldman Sachs said it expected bond issuance by the five hyperscalers, including Microsoft, to total around $250 billion this year and $400 billion in 2027.
Amazon has meanwhile submitted plans to build a network of 5,105 additional satellites that will allow smartphones to connect directly to the Internet. The new satellites are part of Amazon Leo, the satellite division that was expanded earlier this year through the acquisition of Globalstar.
The service is intended for phones that support satellite communication, such as recent iPhones. It should enable users, among other things, to send messages, use data and contact emergency services in emergencies, even in locations without mobile coverage.
Amazon wants to launch the first satellites from 2028 and has requested approval from the US regulator, the FCC.
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