AWS to Reach $1T Revenue, Jassy Says, But Huge Spending First

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy made it clear during the company's quarterly earnings call on Thursday that he remains convinced AWS has the potential to become a trillion-dollar revenue business.

However, before the cloud computing arm reaches that milestone, Amazon must significantly ramp up its capital expenditures to construct the infrastructure required to support this rapidly expanding operation. Jassy revealed on Thursday that the company still expects 2026 cash capex to hit approximately $220 billion, with the majority allocated to AWS, and anticipates spending meaningfully more in 2027 while maintaining a clear line of sight to financial returns.

Amazon's heavy spending on AI infrastructure has been a persistent concern for investors throughout the year. During Thursday's call, Wall Street analysts repeatedly pressed Jassy to justify the expenses, point out signals indicating guaranteed growth, and clarify expected profit margins.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

"A once in a lifetime opportunity that required, and was worth, such a big financial commitment now."

Andy Jassy

Jassy defended the investments as money well spent, explaining that the e-commerce titan aims to capitalize on a historic surge in global cloud demand driven by AI. AWS revenue surged 39 percent compared to the same quarter last year, marking steady growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. Furthermore, the CEO forecasted on the call that this growth rate would accelerate to 40% next year and continue through 2028.