Amazon Ad Revenue Growth Slows to 12% in Q3, Missing Wall Street Estimates

Amazon's advertising revenue growth slowed to 12% year-over-year in Q3 2026, down from 26% in the prior quarter, causing the ecommerce giant to miss Wall Street earnings estimates. The company reported $201.9 billion in net sales and diluted earnings per share of $1.89, below analyst expectations of $202.31 billion and $1.96, respectively. Amazon attributed the advertising slowdown to shifting Prime Day to Q2 for most larger countries and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. Its stock fell 4% in after-hours trading following the report. However, Amazon Web Services revenue surged 39% to $46 billion, marking its fastest growth in nearly five years. CEO Andy Jassy highlighted AWS's strong performance and projected over 40% revenue growth for the cloud unit in 2027 and 2028. He also noted progress in retail market share, grocery, pharmacy, and autonomous vehicle ventures, suggesting Amazon could potentially operate two trillion-dollar revenue businesses within the next decade.