Amazon’s Cloud Business Just Did Something It Hasn’t Done in Nearly Five Years

AWS just posted its fastest revenue growth in nearly five years, and the numbers are large enough to matter for AMZN positioning. The cloud unit grew revenue 39% year-over-year to $46 billion in Q3 2026, while operating income jumped 55%.

The backlog is the bigger signal. AWS now carries $578 billion in contracted revenue and a $184 billion annual run rate. Operating income outpacing revenue growth (55% versus 39%) points to improving profitability on the incremental dollar, which is my interpretation of the figures rather than a stated company claim.

The counterweight is spending. Amazon's $220 billion capital expenditure forecast continues to pressure free cash flow, and investors are questioning whether AI demand will justify an infrastructure buildout of that scale. The growth acceleration is the best evidence yet for the bull case, but the payback question remains open.

NVDA sits on the other side of that capex ledger. Amazon's $220 billion spending plan is the kind of infrastructure commitment that frames demand expectations for AI hardware suppliers, though the source ties the figure to AMZN's cash flow rather than to any specific vendor.