Amazon.com Inc. reported strong advertising and cloud growth in its latest earnings, but plans for sharply higher capital expenditures unsettled investors, sending the company’s shares lower after the results.
The e-commerce and technology group said fourth-quarter net sales reached two hundred thirteen point four billion dollars, up twelve percent year over year excluding foreign-exchange effects, driven in part by solid holiday-season demand.
Advertising remained one of Amazon’s fastest-growing businesses. The company generated twenty-one point three billion dollars in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter, an increase of twenty-two percent from a year earlier. For the full year, advertising revenue totaled sixty-eight billion dollars.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing division, also posted strong results, with quarterly revenue of thirty-five point five billion dollars, up twenty-four percent year over year. Chief Executive Andy Jassy said AWS recorded its fastest growth in thirteen quarters, lifting its annualized revenue run rate to approximately one hundred forty-two billion dollars.
Results in Numbers:
$213.4 billion: Q4 net sales, up 12% year over year excluding foreign-exchange effects.
$21.3 billion: Q4 advertising revenue, up 22% year over year; $68 billion in ad revenue for 2025.
$35.5 billion: AWS quarterly revenue, up 24% year over year, with a $142 billion annual run rate (up from $132 billion).
$200 billion: Planned 2026 capital expenditure, above analysts’ $146 billion estimate.
Executives highlighted the role of video and artificial intelligence in driving growth. Prime Video continued to attract advertisers, with broadcasts of National Football League Thursday Night Football games averaging more than fifteen million viewers during the season, a sixteen percent increase from the previous year.
Amazon also said Rufus, its artificial-intelligence shopping assistant, is now used by roughly three hundred million customers and helped generate about twelve billion dollars in sales in 2025, underscoring the company’s push into so-called agent-driven commerce.
Despite the strong revenue gains, investors focused on Amazon’s plans to significantly increase spending. The company said capital expenditures could reach about two hundred billion dollars in 2026, well above analysts’ expectations of roughly one hundred forty-six billion dollars, as Amazon expands data centers and artificial-intelligence infrastructure, much of it tied to AWS.
The outlook for heavier spending contributed to a decline of more than ten percent in Amazon’s shares following the earnings release, reflecting broader investor caution about large, long-term artificial-intelligence investments across the technology sector.
Amazon is also continuing cost-cutting efforts. The company eliminated about sixteen thousand corporate roles in January, part of ongoing restructuring under Jassy’s leadership.
Jassy defended the aggressive investment strategy, saying demand for artificial-intelligence services is accelerating and likely to grow further as more businesses adopt the technology and computing costs decline.
