Amazon.com Inc.

10/31/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/31/2025 04:02

Quarterly Report for Quarter Ending September 30, 2025 (Form 10-Q)

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Forward-Looking Statements
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding guidance, industry prospects, or future results of operations or financial position, made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are forward-looking. We use words such as anticipates, believes, expects, future, intends, and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, among others, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions, tariff and trade policies, and customer demand and spending, inflation, interest rates, regional labor market constraints, world events, the rate of growth of the internet, online commerce, cloud services, and new and emerging technologies, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products and services sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income or other taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of claims, litigation, government investigations, and other proceedings, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, variability in demand, the degree to which we enter into, maintain, and develop commercial agreements, proposed and completed acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. In addition, global economic and geopolitical conditions and additional or unforeseen circumstances, developments, or events may give rise to or amplify many of these risks. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or outcomes to differ significantly from management's expectations, are described in greater detail in Item 1A of Part II, "Risk Factors."
For additional information, see Item 7 of Part II, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Overview" of our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent liabilities in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Critical accounting estimates are those estimates made in accordance with GAAP that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company. Based on this definition, we have identified the critical accounting estimates addressed below. We also have other key accounting policies, which involve the use of estimates, judgments, and assumptions that are significant to understanding our results. For additional information, see Item 8 of Part II, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 1 - Description of Business, Accounting Policies, and Supplemental Disclosures" of our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 1 - Accounting Policies and Supplemental Disclosures," of this Form 10-Q. Although we believe that our estimates, assumptions, and judgments are reasonable, they are based upon information presently available. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions, judgments, or conditions.
Inventories
Inventories, consisting of products available for sale, are primarily accounted for using the first-in first-out method, and are valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value. This valuation requires us to make judgments, based on currently available information, about the likely method of disposition, such as through sales to individual customers, returns to product vendors, or liquidations, and expected recoverable values of each disposition category. These assumptions about future disposition of inventory are inherently uncertain and changes in our estimates and assumptions may cause us to realize material write-downs in the future. As a measure of sensitivity, for every 1% of additional inventory valuation allowance as of September 30, 2025, we would have recorded an additional cost of sales of approximately $435 million.
In addition, we enter into supplier commitments for certain electronic device components and certain products. These commitments are based on forecasted customer demand. If we reduce these commitments, we may incur additional costs.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. (federal and state) and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Tax laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change, with or without notice, due to economic, political, and other conditions, and significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. There are many transactions that occur during the ordinary course of business for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. In addition, our actual and forecasted earnings are subject to
change due to economic, political, and other conditions and significant judgment is required in determining our ability to use our deferred tax assets.
Our effective tax rates could be affected by numerous factors, such as changes in our business operations, acquisitions, investments, entry into new businesses and geographies, intercompany transactions, the relative amount of our foreign earnings, including earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, losses incurred in jurisdictions for which we are not able to realize related tax benefits, the applicability of special tax regimes, changes in foreign exchange rates, changes in our stock price, changes to our forecasts of income and loss and the mix of jurisdictions to which they relate, changes in our deferred tax assets and liabilities and their valuation, changes in the laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations related to tax, including changes to the global tax framework, competition, and other laws and accounting rules in various jurisdictions. In addition, a number of countries have enacted or are actively pursuing changes to their tax laws applicable to corporate multinationals.
We are also currently subject to tax controversies in various jurisdictions, and these jurisdictions may assess additional income tax liabilities against us. Developments in an audit, investigation, or other tax controversy could have a material effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which that development occurs, as well as for prior and subsequent periods. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these proceedings to determine the adequacy of our tax accruals. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final outcome of audits, investigations, and any other tax controversies could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash flow information is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
September 30, 		Nine Months Ended
September 30, 		Twelve Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2025 2024 2025 2024 2025
Cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities $ 25,971 $ 35,525 $ 70,241 $ 85,055 $ 112,706 $ 130,691
Investing activities (16,899) (26,073) (56,899) (95,300) (69,500) (132,743)
Financing activities (2,758) (44) (8,504) (2,630) (15,250) (5,938)
Our principal sources of liquidity are cash flows generated from operations and our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balances, which, at fair value, were $101.2 billion and $94.2 billion as of December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2025. Amounts held in foreign currencies were $25.5 billion and $20.4 billion as of December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2025. Our foreign currency balances include British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Indian Rupees, and Japanese Yen.
Cash provided by (used in) operating activities was $26.0 billion and $35.5 billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $70.2 billion and $85.1 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. Our operating cash flows result primarily from cash received from our consumer, seller, developer, enterprise, and content creator customers, and advertisers, offset by cash payments we make for products and services, employee compensation, payment processing and related transaction costs, operating leases, and interest payments. Cash received from our customers and other activities generally corresponds to our net sales. The increase in operating cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, was due to an increase in net income, excluding non-cash expenses, and changes in working capital. Working capital at any specific point in time is subject to many variables, including variability in demand, inventory management and category expansion, the timing of cash receipts and payments, customer and vendor payment terms, and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. We expect to use cash on hand to satisfy the settlement of the FTC lawsuit.
Cash provided by (used in) investing activities corresponds with cash capital expenditures, including leasehold improvements, incentives received from property and equipment vendors, proceeds from asset sales, cash outlays for acquisitions, investments in other companies and intellectual property rights, and purchases, sales, and maturities of marketable securities. Cash provided by (used in) investing activities was $(16.9) billion and $(26.1) billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $(56.9) billion and $(95.3) billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025, with the variability caused primarily by purchases, sales, and maturities of marketable securities and cash capital expenditures. Cash capital expenditures were $21.3 billion and $34.2 billion during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $51.6 billion and $89.9 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025, which primarily reflect investments in technology infrastructure (the majority of which is to support AWS business growth) and in additional capacity to support our fulfillment network, both of which we expect to increase in 2025 and 2026. We made cash payments, net of acquired cash, related to acquisition and other investment activity of $622 million and $786 million during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $4.5 billion and $2.4 billion for the nine months ended
September 30, 2024 and 2025, which primarily reflect investments in convertible notes from Anthropic, including $1.3 billion we invested in Q2 2025. Furthermore, we will invest an additional $1.4 billion in another convertible note in Q4 2025.
Cash provided by (used in) financing activities was $(2.8) billion and $(44) million for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $(8.5) billion and $(2.6) billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. Cash inflows from financing activities resulted from proceeds from short-term debt, and other and long-term debt of $1.7 billion and $3.2 billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $2.6 billion and $7.9 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. Cash outflows from financing activities resulted from payments of short-term debt, and other, long-term debt, finance leases, and financing obligations of $4.5 billion and $3.3 billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $11.1 billion and $10.5 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. Property and equipment acquired under finance leases was $186 million and $977 million during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $409 million and $2.0 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025.
We had no borrowings outstanding under the two unsecured revolving credit facilities or the commercial paper programs as of September 30, 2025. See Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 5 - Debt" for additional information.
Certain foreign subsidiary earnings and losses are subject to current U.S. taxation and the subsequent repatriation of those earnings is not subject to tax in the U.S. We intend to invest substantially all of our foreign subsidiary earnings, as well as our capital in our foreign subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S. in those jurisdictions in which we would incur significant, additional costs upon repatriation of such amounts.
Our U.S. taxable income is reduced by accelerated depreciation deductions and the resulting U.S. tax liability is reduced by tax credits, primarily related to the U.S. federal research and development credit. The 2025 Tax Act makes changes to the U.S. corporate income tax, including reinstating the option to claim 100% accelerated depreciation deductions on qualified property, with retroactive application beginning January 20, 2025 and immediate expensing of domestic research and development costs, with retroactive application beginning January 1, 2025. The 2025 Tax Act will significantly decrease our cash taxes in 2025. Cash paid for U.S. (federal and state) and foreign income taxes (net of refunds) totaled $2.0 billion and $1.1 billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $8.2 billion and $6.8 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025.
As of December 31, 2024 and September 30, 2025, restricted cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $3.5 billion. See Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 4 - Commitments and Contingencies" and "Financial Statements - Note 5 - Debt" for additional discussion of our principal contractual commitments, as well as our pledged assets. Additionally, we have purchase obligations and open purchase orders, including for inventory and capital expenditures, that support normal operations and are primarily due in the next twelve months. These purchase obligations and open purchase orders are generally cancellable in full or in part through the contractual provisions.
We believe that cash flows generated from operations and our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balances, as well as our borrowing arrangements, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating cash needs for at least the next twelve months. However, any projections of future cash needs and cash flows are subject to substantial uncertainty. See Item 1A of Part II, "Risk Factors." We continually evaluate opportunities to sell additional equity or debt securities, obtain credit facilities, obtain finance and operating lease arrangements, enter into financing obligations, repurchase common stock, pay dividends, or repurchase, refinance, or otherwise restructure our debt for strategic reasons or to further strengthen our financial position.
The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities would be dilutive to our shareholders. In addition, we will, from time to time, consider the acquisition of, or investment in, complementary businesses, products, services, capital infrastructure, and technologies, which might affect our liquidity requirements or cause us to secure additional financing, or issue additional equity or debt securities. There can be no assurance that additional credit lines or financing instruments will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. In addition, economic conditions and actions by policymaking bodies are contributing to changing interest rates and significant capital market volatility, which, along with any increases in our borrowing levels, could increase our future borrowing costs.
Results of Operations
We have organized our operations into three segments: North America, International, and AWS. These segments reflect the way the Company evaluates its business performance and manages its operations. See Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 8 - Segment Information."
Overview
Macroeconomic factors, including changes in inflation and interest rates, global economic and geopolitical developments, including unpredictable shifts in global tariff and trade policies, and the development and adoption of technologies and services, including artificial intelligence, have direct and indirect impacts on our results of operations that are difficult to predict, isolate, and quantify. These could affect customer demand for our products and services, our ability to forecast growth needs, expenses, and benefits from new technologies. We expect some or all of them to continue to impact our operations into Q4 2025.
Net Sales
Net sales include product and service sales. Product sales represent revenue from the sale of products and related shipping fees and digital media content where we record revenue gross. Service sales primarily represent third-party seller fees, which includes commissions and any related fulfillment and shipping fees, AWS sales, advertising services, Amazon Prime membership fees, and certain digital media content subscriptions. Net sales information is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
September 30, 		Nine Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2025 2024 2025
Net Sales:
North America $ 95,537 $ 106,267 $ 271,911 $ 299,222
International 35,888 40,896 99,486 111,170
AWS 27,452 33,006 78,770 93,146
Consolidated $ 158,877 $ 180,169 $ 450,167 $ 503,538
Year-over-year Percentage Growth:
North America 9 % 11 % 10 % 10 %
International 12 14 9 12
AWS 19 20 18 18
Consolidated 11 13 11 12
Year-over-year Percentage Growth, excluding the effect of foreign exchange rates:
North America 9 % 11 % 10 % 10 %
International 12 10 11 10
AWS 19 20 18 18
Consolidated 11 12 12 12
Net Sales Mix:
North America 60 % 59 % 60 % 59 %
International 23 23 22 22
AWS 17 18 18 19
Consolidated 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %
Sales increased 13% in Q3 2025, and 12% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 compared to the comparable prior year periods. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased net sales by $1.5 billion for Q3 2025, and by $1.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. For a discussion of the effect of foreign exchange rates on sales growth, see "Effect of Foreign Exchange Rates" below.
North America sales increased 11% in Q3 2025, and 10% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 compared to the comparable prior year periods. The sales growth primarily reflects increased unit sales, including sales by third-party sellers, advertising sales, and subscription services. Increased unit sales were driven largely by our continued focus on price, selection, and convenience for our customers, including from our fast shipping offers. Changes in foreign exchange rates did not significantly impact North America net sales for Q3 2025, but reduced North America net sales by $611 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
International sales increased 14% in Q3 2025, and 12% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 compared to the comparable prior year periods. The sales growth primarily reflects increased unit sales, including sales by third-party sellers, advertising sales, and subscription services. Increased unit sales were driven largely by our continued focus on price, selection, and convenience for our customers, including from our fast shipping offers. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased International net sales by$1.5 billion for Q3 2025, and by$2.2 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
AWS sales increased 20% in Q3 2025, and 18% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 compared to the comparable prior year periods. The sales growth primarily reflects increased customer usage, partially offset by pricing changes primarily driven by long-term customer contracts.
Operating Expenses
Information about operating expenses is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
September 30, 		Nine Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2025 2024 2025
Operating Expenses:
Cost of sales $ 80,977 $ 88,670 $ 227,395 $ 246,455
Fulfillment 24,660 27,679 70,543 78,248
Technology and infrastructure 22,245 28,962 64,973 79,122
Sales and marketing 10,609 11,686 30,783 32,865
General and administrative 2,713 2,875 8,496 8,468
Other operating expense (income), net 262 2,875 587 3,382
Total operating expenses $ 141,466 $ 162,747 $ 402,777 $ 448,540
Year-over-year Percentage Growth (Decline):
Cost of sales 8 % 10 % 7 % 8 %
Fulfillment 11 12 9 11
Technology and infrastructure 5 30 2 22
Sales and marketing 1 10 (2) 7
General and administrative 6 6 (4) -
Other operating expense (income), net 8 994 (4) 476
Percent of Net Sales:
Cost of sales 51.0 % 49.2 % 50.5 % 48.9 %
Fulfillment 15.5 15.4 15.7 15.5
Technology and infrastructure 14.0 16.1 14.4 15.7
Sales and marketing 6.7 6.5 6.8 6.5
General and administrative 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.7
Other operating expense (income), net 0.2 1.6 0.1 0.7
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales primarily consists of the purchase price of consumer products, inbound and outbound shipping costs, including costs related to sortation and delivery centers and where we are the transportation service provider, and digital media content costs where we record revenue gross, including video and music.
The increase in cost of sales in Q3 2025 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year periods, is primarily due to increased product and shipping costs resulting from increased sales, partially offset by operational efficiencies. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased cost of sales by $929 million for Q3 2025, and by $917 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
Shipping costs were $23.5 billion and $25.3 billion in Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $67.3 billion and $71.2 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. Shipping costs to receive products from our suppliers are included in our inventory and recognized as cost of sales upon sale of products to our customers. We expect our cost of shipping to continue to increase to the extent our customers accept and use our shipping offers at an increasing rate, we use more expensive shipping methods, and we offer additional services. We seek to mitigate costs of shipping over time in part through achieving higher sales volumes,
optimizing our fulfillment network, negotiating better terms with our suppliers, and achieving better operating efficiencies. We believe that offering low prices to our customers is fundamental to our future success, and one way we offer lower prices is through shipping offers.
Costs to operate our AWS segment are primarily classified as "Technology and infrastructure" as we leverage a shared infrastructure that supports both our internal technology requirements and external sales to AWS customers.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment costs primarily consist of those costs incurred in operating and staffing our North America and International fulfillment centers, physical stores, and customer service centers and payment processing costs. While AWS payment processing and related transaction costs are included in "Fulfillment," AWS costs are primarily classified as "Technology and infrastructure." Fulfillment costs as a percentage of net sales may vary due to several factors, such as payment processing and related transaction costs, our level of productivity and accuracy, changes in volume, size, and weight of units received and fulfilled, the extent to which third-party sellers utilize Fulfillment by Amazon services, timing of fulfillment network and physical store expansion, the extent we utilize fulfillment services provided by third parties, mix of products and services sold, and our ability to affect customer service contacts per unit by implementing improvements in our operations and enhancements to our customer self-service features. Additionally, sales by our sellers have higher payment processing and related transaction costs as a percentage of net sales compared to our retail sales because payment processing costs are based on the gross purchase price of underlying transactions.
The increase in fulfillment costs in Q3 2025 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year periods, is primarily due to increased sales and investments in our fulfillment network, partially offset by operational efficiencies. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased fulfillment costs by $214 million for Q3 2025, and by $209 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
We seek to expand our fulfillment network to accommodate a greater selection and in-stock inventory levels and to meet anticipated shipment volumes from sales of our own products as well as sales by third parties for which we provide the fulfillment services. We regularly evaluate our facility requirements.
Technology and Infrastructure
Technology and infrastructure costs include payroll and related expenses for employees involved in the research and development of new and existing products and services, development, design, and maintenance of our stores, curation and display of products and services made available in our online stores, and infrastructure costs. Infrastructure costs include servers, networking equipment, and data center related depreciation and amortization, rent, utilities, and other expenses necessary to support AWS and other Amazon businesses. Collectively, these costs reflect the investments we make in order to offer a wide variety of products and services to our customers, including expenditures related to initiatives to build and deploy innovative and efficient software and electronic devices and the development of a satellite network for global broadband service and autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing services.
We seek to invest efficiently in numerous areas of technology and infrastructure so we may continue to enhance the customer experience and improve our process efficiency through rapid technology developments, while operating at an ever increasing scale. Our technology and infrastructure investment and capital spending projects often support a variety of product and service offerings due to geographic expansion and the cross-functionality of our systems and operations. We expect spending in technology and infrastructure to increase over time as we continue to add employees and infrastructure. These costs are allocated to segments based on usage. The increase in technology and infrastructure costs in Q3 2025 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year periods, is primarily due to an increase in spending on infrastructure, including depreciation and amortization, and severance costs. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased technology and infrastructure costs by $128 million for Q3 2025, but did not significantly impact technology and infrastructure costs for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. We currently expense the majority of the costs associated with the development of our satellite network for global broadband service (including production, launch, and payroll costs, and launch services deposits upon launch). We will capitalize certain of these costs once the service achieves commercial viability, including sales to customers. See Item 7 of Part II, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Overview" of our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of how management views advances in technology and the importance of innovation.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing costs include advertising and payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities, including sales commissions related to AWS. We direct customers to our stores primarily through a number of marketing channels, such as our sponsored search, third-party customer referrals, social and online advertising, television advertising, and other initiatives. Our marketing costs are largely variable, based on growth in sales and changes in rates. To the
extent there is increased or decreased competition for these traffic sources, or to the extent our mix of these channels shifts, we would expect to see a corresponding change in our marketing costs.
The increase in sales and marketing costs in Q3 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to severance costs and increased advertising expenses. The increase in sales and marketing costs for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased advertising expenses.
While costs associated with Amazon Prime membership benefits and other shipping offers are not included in sales and marketing expense, we view these offers as effective worldwide marketing tools, and intend to continue offering them indefinitely.
General and Administrative
The increase in general and administrative costs in Q3 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to severance costs. General and administrative costs for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 did not significantly change compared to the comparable prior year period.
Other Operating Expense (Income), Net
Other operating expense (income), net was $262 million and $2.9 billion for Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $587 million and $3.4 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025, and other than including the settlement of a lawsuit with the FTC for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, was primarily related to asset impairments and the amortization of intangible assets.
Operating Income
Operating income by segment is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
September 30, 		Nine Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2025 2024 2025
Operating Income
North America $ 5,663 $ 4,789 $ 15,711 $ 18,147
International 1,301 1,199 2,477 3,710
AWS 10,447 11,434 29,202 33,141
Consolidated $ 17,411 $ 17,422 $ 47,390 $ 54,998
Operating income was $17.4 billion in Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $47.4 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and $55.0 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. Operating income in Q3 2025 includes charges of $2.5 billion related to the settlement of a lawsuit with the FTC and $1.8 billion of estimated severance costs primarily related to planned role eliminations. We believe that operating income is a more meaningful measure than gross profit and gross margin due to the diversity of our product categories and services. For more information on the operating expenses that impact segment operating income, see "Operating Expenses" and the descriptions of operating expense line item changes on pages 27 to 29, and "Note 8 - Segment Information" on page 19.
The decrease in North America operating income in Q3 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased other operating, fulfillment, technology and infrastructure, and shipping costs, inclusive of the FTC settlement and severance costs, partially offset by increased unit sales and increased advertising sales. The increase in North America operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased unit sales and increased advertising sales, partially offset by increased fulfillment, technology and infrastructure, other operating, and shipping costs. Changes in foreign exchange rates did not significantly impact operating income for Q3 2025, but negatively impacted operating income by $131 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
The decrease in International operating income in Q3 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased shipping and fulfillment costs, inclusive of severance costs, partially offset by increased unit sales and increased advertising sales. The increase in International operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased unit sales and increased advertising sales, partially offset by increased fulfillment and shipping costs. Changes in foreign exchange rates positively impacted operating income by $302 million for Q3 2025, and by $584 million for nine months ended September 30, 2025.
The increase in AWS operating income in Q3 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased sales, partially offset by spending on technology infrastructure that was primarily driven by additional investments to support AWS business growth and severance costs. The increase in AWS operating income for the nine months ended September
30, 2025, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased sales, partially offset by spending on technology infrastructure that was primarily driven by additional investments to support AWS business growth. Changes in foreign exchange rates negatively impacted operating income by $120 million for Q3 2025, and by $118 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
Interest Income and Expense
Our interest income was $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $3.4 billion and $3.3 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025, primarily due to a higher average balance of invested funds at prevailing rates. We generally invest our excess cash in investment grade short- to intermediate-term marketable debt securities and AAA-rated money market funds. Our interest income corresponds with the average balance of invested funds based on the prevailing rates, which vary depending on the geographies and currencies in which they are invested.
Interest expense was $603 million and $538 million during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $1.8 billion and $1.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025, and was primarily related to debt and finance leases. See Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 3 - Leases and Note 5 - Debt" for additional information.
Other Income (Expense), Net
Other income (expense), net was $(27) million and $10.2 billion during Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, and $(2.7) billion and $14.1 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025. The primary components of other income (expense), net are related to equity securities valuations and adjustments, equity warrant valuations, foreign currency, and reclassification adjustments for gains (losses) on available-for-sale debt securities. The net loss of $(2.7) billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 is primarily from the marketable securities loss from our equity investment in Rivian. The net gain of $10.2 billion in Q3 2025 and $14.1 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 is primarily from an upward adjustment for observable changes in price relating to our nonvoting preferred stock in Anthropic, and the reclassification adjustments for the gains on available-for-sale debt securities from the portions of our convertible notes investments in Anthropic that were converted to nonvoting preferred stock during Q3 2025 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.
Income Taxes
Our income tax provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $6.9 billion, which included $2.4 billion of net discrete tax benefits primarily attributable to excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. Our income tax provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 was $14.1 billion, which included $354 million of net discrete tax expense primarily attributable to the net gains from our investments in Anthropic, partially offset by excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. The 2025 Tax Act increased our income tax provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, primarily due to a decrease in the foreign income deduction. See Item 1 of Part I, "Financial Statements - Note 7 - Income Taxes" for additional information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Regulation G, Conditions for Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, and other SEC regulations define and prescribe the conditions for use of certain non-GAAP financial information. Free cash flow and the effect of foreign exchange rates on our consolidated statements of operations meet the definition of non-GAAP financial measures.
Free Cash Flow
Our financial focus is on long-term, sustainable growth in free cash flow. We provide a free cash flow measure because we believe it provides additional perspective on the impact of acquiring property and equipment with cash. Free cash flow is cash flow from operations reduced by "Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives." The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most comparable GAAP cash flow measure, "Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities," for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2024 and 2025 (in millions):
Twelve Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2025
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 112,706 $ 130,691
Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives (64,959) (115,903)
Free cash flow $ 47,747 $ 14,788
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ (69,500) $ (132,743)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ (15,250) $ (5,938)
Free cash flow has limitations as it omits certain components of the overall cash flow statement and does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. For example, free cash flow does not incorporate the portion of payments representing principal reductions of debt or cash payments for business acquisitions. Additionally, our mix of property and equipment acquisitions with cash or other financing options may change over time. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flow only as a complement to our entire consolidated statements of cash flows.
Effect of Foreign Exchange Rates
Information regarding the effect of foreign exchange rates, versus the U.S. Dollar, on our net sales, operating expenses, and operating income is provided to show reported period operating results had the foreign exchange rates remained the same as those in effect in the comparable prior year period. The effect on our net sales, operating expenses, and operating income from changes in our foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
2024 2025 2024 2025
As
Reported 		Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) 		At Prior
Year
Rates (2) 		As Reported Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) 		At Prior
Year
Rates (2) 		As
Reported 		Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) 		At Prior
Year
Rates (2) 		As Reported Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) 		At Prior
Year
Rates (2)
Net sales $ 158,877 $ 233 $ 159,110 $ 180,169 $ (1,511) $ 178,658 $ 450,167 $ 1,438 $ 451,605 $ 503,538 $ (1,586) $ 501,952
Operating expenses 141,466 249 141,715 162,747 (1,382) 161,365 402,777 1,555 404,332 448,540 (1,251) 447,289
Operating income 17,411 (16) 17,395 17,422 (129) 17,293 47,390 (117) 47,273 54,998 (335) 54,663
___________________
(1)Represents the change in reported amounts resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates from those in effect in the comparable prior year period for operating results.
(2)Represents the outcome that would have resulted had foreign exchange rates in the reported period been the same as those in effect in the comparable prior year period for operating results.
Guidance
We provided guidance on October 30, 2025, in our earnings release furnished on Form 8-K as set forth below. These forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com's expectations as of October 30, 2025, and are subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic and geopolitical conditions, tariff and trade policies, and customer demand and spending (including the impact of recessionary fears), inflation, interest rates, regional labor market constraints, world events, the rate of growth of the internet, online commerce, cloud services, and new and emerging technologies, as well as those outlined in Item 1A of Part II, "Risk Factors."
Fourth Quarter 2025 Guidance
•Net sales are expected to be between $206.0 billion and $213.0 billion, or to grow between 10% and 13% compared with fourth quarter 2024. This guidance anticipates a favorable impact of approximately 190 basis points from foreign exchange rates.
•Operating income is expected to be between $21.0 billion and $26.0 billion, compared with $21.2 billion in fourth quarter 2024.
•This guidance assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded.
Amazon.com Inc. published this content on October 31, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Edgar on October 31, 2025 at 10:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]