Amazon Q3 2026: Sales Up 12% as Margins Widen

A quarter of two halves: stronger operations, softer headline profit

Amazon closed the three months to 30 September 2026 with net sales of $201.94bn, a 12% rise on the $180.17bn booked a year earlier. Strip out an unfavourable currency effect of $0.90bn and the underlying growth rate nudges up to 13%.

The more striking figure sits further down the income statement. Operating income jumped 61% year on year to $28.08bn, against $17.42bn in the third quarter of 2025. Consolidated operating margin widened to 13.9%, up from 9.7% twelve months before — a shift of more than four percentage points that underlines how much more profitable each pound and dollar of sales has become.

Net income, however, moved in the opposite direction: $20.69bn, or $1.89 per diluted share, compared with $21.19bn, or $1.95 per diluted share, a year earlier. The explanation lies outside day-to-day trading. The 2025 comparative period included pre-tax valuation gains of $9.50bn on investments in the artificial intelligence research company Anthropic. Setting that one-off boost aside, the picture is of a business converting revenue growth into operating profit far more efficiently than it did a year ago.

Marketplace momentum and a deeper brand catalogue

On the retail side, Amazon spent the autumn/winter 2026 season broadening its consumer offering, particularly in premium fashion, fragrance and lifestyle. Assortment from apparel label Banana Republic, French luxury house Jean Paul Gaultier and Carolina Herrera by expanded by more than 20% year on year.

Third-party seller services brought in $46.49bn over the quarter, up 9% from $42.49bn. Independent sellers now account for 61% of total units sold across the ecosystem, with worldwide paid units rising 12% year on year.

First-party online stores recorded net sales of $68.47bn, a 2% increase on the $67.41bn reported in the same quarter of 2025, while physical stores grew at the same rate to $5.71bn from $5.58bn.

One timing quirk deserves noting: Prime Day fell in the second quarter of 2026 rather than the third. Amazon estimates that, had the event stayed in its usual slot, third-quarter net sales growth would have been roughly 400 basis points higher.

Retail divisions and AWS drive the profit uplift

Chief executive Andy Jassy pointed to fulfilment and delivery performance as the engine behind the margin gain. In a statement he said: “Our broader selection and speedier delivery are helping us capture more retail market segment share with improving margins, and our newer businesses, ranging from Grocery to Pharmacy to Amazon Leo to Zoox are progressing encouragingly.” More than 1.50 billion items reached Prime members on a same-day or next-day basis during the quarter.

Segment performance broke down as follows:

• North America: sales of $112.85bn, up 6% year on year, with operating income up 82% to $8.72bn.
• International: sales of $43.11bn, up 5%, and operating profit of $1.58bn against $1.20bn a year earlier.
• Amazon Web Services: net sales of $45.98bn, up 39%, and operating income of $17.77bn, up 55%.
• Advertising services: net sales of $19.64bn, up 11%, as brand partners made greater use of expanded promotional tools.

Holiday guidance points to a solid finish to the year

For the final quarter of the AW26 trading calendar, Amazon is guiding net sales of between $240bn and $247bn — growth of 12% to 16% year on year, allowing for an anticipated currency headwind of about 60 basis points.

Operating income is expected to land between $28.50bn and $33.50bn, against the $25bn delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025. Advertising revenue is forecast to accelerate into the high teens over the holiday period as fashion and consumer brands raise promotional spending.

The group continues to expect capital expenditure of approximately $220bn for the full year 2026, reflecting sustained investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and logistics technology.

What the numbers signal for retailers and brands

Three themes stand out for anyone selling on or competing with the platform.

Scale still compounds. A 12% sales increase on a base of more than $180bn is an enormous absolute addition, and the fact that margins expanded alongside it suggests the heavy spending of recent years is beginning to pay back.

Third-party sellers remain the growth spine. With 61% of units now sold by independent merchants, brands weighing their channel mix should treat marketplace presence as a core strategic question rather than a secondary outlet.

Advertising is the quiet profit engine. An 11% rise in the third quarter, with high-teens growth expected over the holidays, means promotional budgets are increasingly part of the platform’s economics — and a line retailers need to plan for well ahead of peak trading.

For UK brands preparing for the golden quarter, the message from these results is that demand is holding up, delivery expectations are rising, and the cost of visibility is climbing.