Amazon reported third-quarter net sales of $180.2 billion, up 13 percent year over year, driven by broad-based strength across retail, cloud and advertising. Operating income of $17.4 billion was roughly flat versus the same period last year but would have reached $21.7 billion after adjusting for a $2.5 billion FTC settlement and $1.8 billion in severance charges. Net income climbed 38 percent to $21.2 billion, reflecting improving operating leverage in key segments and disciplined expense management even as the company ramps up strategic investments.

Amazon Web Services maintained its role as the company’s primary profit engine, delivering 20 percent year-over-year sales growth and holding roughly 30 percent of the global cloud infrastructure market. Meanwhile, Amazon’s advertising business is on track to exceed $60 billion in annualized revenue in 2025, with management projecting potential expansion toward $100 billion as it leverages first-party shopping data and upper-funnel video ad formats via Prime Video partnerships. Together, these high-margin segments underpin Amazon’s forward profitability and offset lower returns in its core e-commerce operations.

Amazon plans to invest approximately $125 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, a significant portion dedicated to expanding data-center capacity and building AI infrastructure. The company is developing and deploying custom chips—Trainium for AI model training and Inferentia for inference workloads—to reduce reliance on third-party providers and lower per-unit compute costs. These silicon initiatives, combined with over one million warehouse robots that are projected to save up to $4 billion annually in fulfillment expenses, position Amazon to improve operating margins and accelerate innovation across its ecosystem.

Several large asset managers adjusted their Amazon stakes in the third quarter. Riverbridge Partners trimmed its position by 3.3 percent, selling 21,252 shares and leaving a holding of 632,358 shares (approximately $138.8 million at the time), making Amazon its 10th largest position. Mad River Investors initiated a new stake of 3,400 shares valued at about $747,000, while J2 Capital Management reduced its holding by 68.7 percent to 1,918 shares (roughly $421,000). Combined, these moves reflect varied institutional views on near-term valuation even as long-term fundamentals remain intact.