Amazon Stock Slides 7% After Hours as Analysts Split on AI Spending and Jassy's 40%-Plus AWS Outlook

Amazon’s rare “double miss” left Wall Street arguing overnight about what matters more: a softer retail and ad business today, or a cloud unit its CEO says could grow more than 40% a year through 2028. The stock is set to open Friday well below where it closed Thursday.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice.

Where is Amazon stock price after earnings?

Amazon shares fell 4.25% to close at $243.79 in Thursday’s regular session, then dropped another 7.30% to $225.99 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga. TipRanks and Reuters also put the after-hours slide at about 7%. The CNBC Investing Club noted that at around $228, the stock had given back the entire 15% jump it got after last quarter’s report, and sits well below its record close of $284 on Aug. 3.

After-hours prices can move before the regular session opens, so Friday’s trading will show where the stock settles.

Why did AMZN fall?

Our earlier coverage has the full numbers. In short, Amazon missed on both revenue ($201.94 billion vs. $202.31 billion expected) and earnings per share ($1.89 vs. about $1.96), per CNBC and TipRanks. The pressure points:

• Cash burn: free cash flow was negative $42.4 billion over the past 12 months, compared with a positive $14.8 billion a year earlier, TipRanks reported.
• AI spending: capital expenditures were about $77 billion in the quarter, and Amazon reaffirmed $220 billion for 2026, with “meaningfully more” planned next year, per CNBC.
• Retail and ads: online stores and advertising both missed. Amazon blamed “timing anomalies” for the ad slowdown, including Prime Day moving into the second quarter in most countries, and expects ad growth to return to the high teens in the fourth quarter, CNBC reported.
• Holiday guidance: fourth-quarter sales guidance of $240 billion to $247 billion had a midpoint below the Street consensus, and operating income guidance of $28.5 billion to $33.5 billion also came in below estimates at the midpoint.

Reuters framed the report as part of a wider worry about the cost of the AI boom, noting that AI cloud stocks CoreWeave, Nebius and Iren fell 5.8% to 6.7% after hours alongside Amazon.

What did Andy Jassy say on the Amazon earnings call?

The call leaned hard on AWS. According to CNBC and Benzinga, Jassy:

• Projected AWS revenue growth of more than 40% in both 2027 and 2028, well above consensus estimates of about 35% for each year
• Said AWS could become a $1 trillion revenue business in five to 10 years
• Pointed to an AWS backlog of $578 billion, up 16% from the second quarter
• Said Amazon plans to start selling its in-house chips directly to customers outside AWS in late 2027
• Said Amazon is installing an AI accelerator about every 14 seconds, as highlighted by Futurum Equities’ Shay Boloor

On fears that AI shopping agents could undercut Amazon’s ad business, Jassy said, “Few customers are doing much shopping this way yet, as the experience is still not great nor more convenient than coming to a retailer directly to research or one-click order there,” per CNBC.

How are analysts reacting to Amazon earnings?

Reactions split sharply.

TipRanks said Amazon carried a Strong Buy consensus based on 40 Buys and two Holds over the past three months, with an average price target of $332.26, though it noted ratings may change as analysts update after the report.

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Earlier coverage: Amazon Stock Slides After Q3 Earnings Miss Despite AWS Growing 39% (Oct 29)