Amazon’s record quarter fueled by $16.8B Anthropic paper gain
▼ Summary
– Amazon’s first-quarter 2026 net sales were $181.5 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase that beat analyst estimates by over $4 billion.
– Net income nearly doubled to $30.3 billion from $17.1 billion in the same quarter last year.
– Earnings per share reached $2.78, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.64.
– AWS revenue contributed to the company’s strong financial performance.
– The full article continues with more details on Amazon’s earnings and its relationship with Anthropic.
Amazon delivered a record-breaking first quarter in 2026, driven by surging cloud demand and a massive valuation gain from its investment in AI firm Anthropic. Net sales hit $181.5 billion, climbing 17% year-over-year and beating Wall Street expectations by over $4 billion. The company’s net income nearly doubled to $30.3 billion, up from $17.1 billion in the same period last year. Earnings per share soared to $2.78, well above the consensus estimate of $1.64.
A significant portion of that profit came from a $16.8 billion non-cash gain tied to Amazon’s stake in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence startup behind the Claude chatbot. Amazon initially invested $4 billion in the company last year, and the stake’s value has appreciated sharply as Anthropic’s technology gains traction in the enterprise market. The paper gain alone accounted for more than half of Amazon’s net income for the quarter.
AWS revenue also played a starring role, growing 19% to $28.6 billion. The cloud unit benefited from enterprises accelerating their migration to the cloud and ramping up spending on AI infrastructure. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted that the company is seeing “unprecedented demand” for AI services, particularly through Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker, which allow businesses to build and deploy generative AI models.
Operating income for the quarter rose to $18.4 billion, compared to $11.2 billion a year earlier. The retail segment also showed strength, with North America revenue up 15% and international sales climbing 13%. Advertising services continued to grow, though at a slower pace than previous quarters.
Despite the standout results, Amazon’s stock moved modestly in after-hours trading, as investors weighed the sustainability of the Anthropic paper gain against ongoing capital expenditures. The company spent more than $20 billion on infrastructure in Q1 alone, much of it directed toward AI data centers and chips.
Still, the quarter underscores Amazon’s dual advantage: a dominant cloud business that is riding the AI wave, and a massive investment portfolio that can deliver outsized returns. As Jassy put it, the company is “well positioned to lead in the next era of technology.”
(Source: The Next Web)
