Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported a fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $35.6 billion, marking a 24% increase year-over-year—the fastest growth in 13 quarters. The order backlog for AWS rose 40% year-over-year to $244 billion, indicating strong demand driven by enterprise AI adoption. Notably, AWS’s annualized run rate approached $142 billion, supported by the growth of its custom chips, Trainium and Graviton, which surpassed a combined revenue run rate of $10 billion.
To fund its AI infrastructure expansion, Amazon anticipates capital expenditures of around $200 billion in 2026, up from $131.8 billion in 2025, impacting near-term cash flow and margins. For Q1 2026, Amazon projects net sales between $173.5 billion and $178.5 billion, with operating income estimated between $16.5 billion and $21.5 billion.
In comparison, Microsoft experienced a 39% growth in Azure revenue, bringing its Intelligent Cloud segment to $29.9 billion, while Alphabet’s Google Cloud surged 48% to reach $17.7 billion. While rivals Microsoft and Alphabet are rapidly scaling, AWS maintains the largest cloud revenue base, positioning Amazon favorably within the competitive landscape.
