Amazon filed an 8-K (Item 2.02) after the close on July 30, 2026 to report its second-quarter results, and the headline is a re-accelerating cloud business: revenue rose 20% to $200.6 billion and AWS grew 37% — its fastest pace in 18 quarters. One big catch: the eye-popping $5.75 earnings-per-share number is inflated by a one-time paper gain on Amazon's stake in AI lab Anthropic, so read it carefully.

The numbers

• Revenue: $200.6B, up 20% YoY (vs ~$196B Wall Street expected) — a beat.
• AWS (cloud): $42.2B, up 37% YoY — the fastest growth in 18 quarters and well above the ~31% Street looked for. AWS operating income jumped to $16.6B from $10.2B a year ago.
• Total operating income: $27.5B, up from $19.2B — comfortably ahead of expectations.
• GAAP EPS: $5.75 vs $1.68 a year ago — but net income of $62.6B includes a $53.4B pre-tax "other income" gain, primarily a non-cash mark-up of Amazon's Anthropic investment. Strip that one-off out and underlying earnings were far smaller — roughly in line with the ~$1.8–$2.0 the Street expected.
• Other segments: North America +16%, International +15%, Advertising +26% YoY.
• Free cash flow: a trailing-12-month outflow of $7.6B (down from a $18.2B inflow), driven by a ~$66B jump in AI/data-center capital spending.
• Q3 guidance: revenue $197–202B (+9–12%), operating income $22.5–26.5B vs $17.4B last year.

What an 8-K Item 2.02 is

A Form 8-K is the "something material just happened" filing US companies submit to the SEC between their big quarterly (10-Q) and annual (10-K) reports. Item 2.02 is the specific line item for "Results of Operations and Financial Condition" — in plain English, the earnings release. The actual numbers ride along as an exhibit (Exhibit 99.1, the press release). It's how the official results hit the public record at the same moment for everyone.

Why it matters

The real story is AWS. Cloud is Amazon's profit engine, and a re-acceleration to 37% growth with a $16.6B segment operating profit suggests AI demand is translating into real cloud revenue, not just spending. The flip side is cost: Amazon is pouring tens of billions into chips and data centers, which is why free cash flow swung negative — the company is trading near-term cash for future AI capacity. The $53.4B Anthropic gain is a reminder to separate operating performance (selling goods, ads and cloud) from paper gains on investments that can reverse if valuations change. None of this is a prediction about the share price — just what the filing tells you about the business.

Beginner takeaway

Amazon's quarter was genuinely strong where it counts — cloud growth and operating profit both beat. Just don't be fooled by the $5.75 EPS: most of it is a one-time, non-cash gain on an AI investment, not money from customers. Watch AWS growth and capital spending in the quarters ahead.

FAQ

Why is EPS $5.75 if the business only earned a few billion in profit? Because accounting rules make Amazon mark its Anthropic stake to its latest value, and that paper gain (~$53.4B pre-tax) flows through net income even though no cash changed hands.

Is negative free cash flow bad? Not automatically. Here it reflects a deliberate surge in AI/data-center investment. It becomes a concern only if that spending doesn't eventually produce enough cloud profit to justify it.

What is AWS and why do people obsess over it? AWS is Amazon's cloud-computing arm — it rents servers and AI infrastructure to other companies. It's a small slice of revenue but the majority of Amazon's operating profit, so its growth rate moves the whole story.

What's the difference between an 8-K and a 10-Q? The 8-K/Item 2.02 is the quick earnings announcement; the 10-Q is the fuller, audited-style quarterly report with all the financial detail, filed a bit later.

As of July 30, 2026. Source: official SEC filing — read it directly here. We summarise filings for education and may make errors, so always verify against the official document. Educational content only — not investment advice, not a buy/sell recommendation.