Third-quarter revenue and profit both hit record highs
Amazon reported 2026年第三季 earnings, with revenue reaching 2019億美元, up 12% year-on-year, operating income of 281億美元, and operating margin reaching 13.9%, a record high. Cloud service AWS posted revenue of 460億美元, up 39.3% year-on-year, its fastest growth in nearly 5 years, with annualized revenue reaching 1840億美元. In terms of revenue and profit performance, Amazon's AI and cloud business continues to expand with strong results.
Free cash flow turns to negative 423.6億美元
Amazon's free cash flow over the past 12 months went from positive 147.9億美元 in the same period last year to negative 423.6億美元 at the end of this year's third quarter, a swing of about 571.5億美元. Investment expert 股人阿勳 pointed out that the main reason is the rapid increase in AI capital expenditure. Amazon expects 2026年 full-year cash capital expenditure of about 2200億美元, and the CEO also said 2027年 investment could increase further, mainly for data centers, AI infrastructure and related equipment.
Taiwan stocks plunge as market focuses on AI investment returns
Taiwan stocks on 30日 opened lower and moved lower, closing down 1156.5點 at 45211.83點, down 2.49%, with turnover reaching 8777.3億元. Amid market volatility, the return on AI investment is in focus. 股人阿勳 reminded that higher corporate profit does not mean freely usable cash increases in parallel, and Amazon's free cash flow change is a signal worth watching for investors.
Supply chain benefit hinges on investment payback
This wave of AI infrastructure investment is an indicator for Taiwan's supply chain. From 台積電2330, AI servers, to cooling, power and high-speed transmission related industries, all could benefit from cloud operators continuing to expand capital expenditure. However, 股人阿勳 believes investors should not only look at revenue growth or capital expenditure scale, but more importantly future actual returns. After data center construction is completed, customer demand, equipment utilization, and costs such as depreciation still need to be monitored. The market focus has shifted from who can invest the most capital to who can turn AI investment into long-term stable cash flow, and when evaluating AI concept stocks, long-term profit monetization ability should be examined.