Amazon Up Next: AWS Sold $42.2B; Google Cloud Grew 103%

Amazon reports its September-quarter results on Thursday 29 October 2026, with a conference call at 2:00 p.m. PT, according to its 15 October announcement. In its last report, on 30 July, Amazon said AWS segment sales rose 37% to $42.2 billion in the June quarter.

Since then, Alphabet said on 28 October that Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.7 billion in the September quarter, and Microsoft’s release the same day said Azure revenue increased 48%.

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Eight Quarters of AWS

Amazon’s quarterly releases give AWS segment net sales of $28.8 billion in the December 2024 quarter, then $29.3 billion, $30.9 billion, $33.0 billion, $35.6 billion, $37.6 billion and $42.2 billion in the June 2026 quarter.

By our arithmetic, year-over-year growth across those seven quarters was 18.9%, 16.9%, 17.5%, 20.2%, 23.6%, 28.4% and 36.8%. Amazon’s July release put the June-quarter rate at 36.7% and called it the fastest growth in 18 quarters.

AWS operating income was $16.6 billion in the June 2026 quarter, against $10.2 billion a year earlier, according to the release. By our arithmetic, that is a 39.4% operating margin, against 32.9%; over the seven quarters the margin ranged from 32.9% to 39.5%.

Three Clouds Side by Side

Over the same quarters plus September 2026, Google Cloud’s revenue grew 30.1%, 28.1%, 31.7%, 33.5%, 47.8%, 63.4%, 81.8% and 102.6% year over year, by our arithmetic from Alphabet’s releases. Its operating margin was 36.2% in the September quarter, against 23.7% a year earlier, also by our arithmetic.

Microsoft’s releases give Azure growth of 31%, 33%, 39%, 40%, 39%, 40%, 43% and 48% for the same eight quarters. The earlier releases describe the line as “Azure and other cloud services”; the 28 October release says “Azure revenue increased 48%”.

Microsoft’s Form 10-Q, filed on 28 October, lists Azure revenue of $33,165 million for the September 2026 quarter, against $22,384 million a year earlier.

The Markers for Thursday

AWS net sales were $33,006 million in the September 2025 quarter, according to Amazon’s release. By our arithmetic, AWS would stay above Azure’s $33,165 million with growth of more than about 0.5%.

Also by our arithmetic, matching Azure’s 48% would mean about $48.8 billion, and repeating the June quarter’s 36.8% would mean about $45.2 billion. These are arithmetic markers, not forecasts; Amazon does not give AWS guidance.

Amazon’s own guidance for the quarter covers the whole company: net sales of $197.0 billion to $202.0 billion, growth of 9% to 12%, and operating income of $22.5 billion to $26.5 billion, against $17.4 billion a year earlier.

What Amazon Said in July

Amazon’s 30 July release said AWS’s AI business exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate, “growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year”, and that its chips business also exceeded a $25 billion run rate.

On Trainium, the release cited “the two leading AI labs in the world, Anthropic and OpenAI, making multi-year, multi-gigawatt commitments”.

Purchases of property and equipment were $54.2 billion in the June 2026 quarter, against $32.2 billion a year earlier, according to the cash-flow statement in the release. Amazon said trailing-twelve-month free cash flow was an outflow of $7.6 billion.

Connecting the Coverage

Amazon’s last quarter: AWS grew 37% with a $25 billion AI business. Tonight’s rivals: Google Cloud revenue doubled to $30.7 billion and Microsoft’s Azure grew 48%.

On margins and commitments, Google Cloud alone added more revenue than all of Microsoft and Google’s commitments hit $924 billion. On spending across the four, Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft near $750 billion of 2026 capex.

The Structural Read

As we read the releases, all three clouds were growing faster in their latest reported quarter than a year earlier: AWS from 17.5% to 36.8%, Google Cloud from 33.5% to 102.6% (both our arithmetic) and Azure from 40% to 48% as Microsoft stated.

AWS still had the largest quarterly revenue of the three in its last report: $42.2 billion in the June quarter, against Azure’s $33,165 million and Google Cloud’s $30.7 billion in the September quarter, according to the companies’ filings.

Amazon’s July release said AWS’s AI business and its chips business each exceeded a $25 billion annual revenue run rate.

Three Implications

FOR AWS Its September 2025 quarter was $33,006 million, according to Amazon; by our arithmetic, growth above about 0.5% keeps it ahead of Azure’s $33,165 million.

FOR THE COMPARISON Google Cloud includes Workspace and TPU system sales, and Microsoft relabelled its Azure line on 28 October, so the three revenue lines are not defined the same way.

FOR THURSDAY Amazon’s guidance covers the whole company only, with operating income of $22.5 billion to $26.5 billion for the quarter, according to its July release.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework The AI Capex Map.

The framework argues: “This is not a continuation of the cloud capex cycle.” It describes the subject of its analysis as the financing: how the money flows, where it cracks, what it buys and who can absorb it.

The three clouds’ latest releases show the revenue side of that question: AWS at $42.2 billion a quarter in June, Azure at $33,165 million and Google Cloud at $30.7 billion in September. The framework does not discuss these figures.

What Is Not Established

Amazon had not reported its September-quarter results when this piece was published, and its releases give no guidance for AWS on its own.

The three segments are defined differently. Alphabet’s Google Cloud includes Workspace and, since 2026, sales of TPU systems; Microsoft changed the label of its Azure line in the 28 October release; AWS is Amazon’s own segment. Revenue comparisons between them do not adjust for these differences.

Growth rates, margins and the markers above are our arithmetic on reported figures, not company measures or forecasts.

The Bottom Line

AWS reported $42.2 billion of sales in the June 2026 quarter, up 37%, according to Amazon. Google Cloud then reported 103% growth and Azure 48% for the September quarter. By our arithmetic, AWS needs growth of about 0.5% to stay above Azure’s $33,165 million; Amazon reports on 29 October.

What happened next (29 Oct): Amazon reported AWS sales of $46.0 billion, up 39% (the release says 39.3%), and $77.3 billion of third-quarter purchases of property and equipment; by our arithmetic, AWS grew faster than its 36.8% second-quarter pace and slower than Azure’s 48%.