Amazon.com reported third-quarter earnings after the market closed today. They exceeded market expectations, driven by the strong performance of the company’s advertising and cloud computing divisions. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.43, an increase of 34% from the same period last year, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12.
Total revenues reached $158.9 billion, marking 11% year-over-year growth, closely in line with analysts’ forecasts. Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing division, reported a 19% increase in revenue to $27.5 billion. This growth underlines AWS’ dominance in the cloud market, bolstered by growing demand for AI-powered services.
The advertising service also showed momentum, with revenue growing 19% to $14.3 billion, reflecting Amazon’s monetization of its e-commerce platform and the growing appeal of its advertising offerings.
For the fourth quarter, Amazon provided guidance calling for net sales of between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion, up 7% to 11% from the same period last year. The company expects operating profit to range between $16 billion and $20 billion.
Despite these positive results, there are some investor concerns about potential capacity constraints in cloud services, following similar issues reported by competitors. Additionally, rising spending on AI and infrastructure has raised questions about future profit margins.