Amazon grew sales 13% in the third quarter of 2025, year-over-year, including its AWS service. By segment, Amazon grew North American sales 11% to $106.3 billion and International 14% to $40.9 billion. AWS segment sales increased 20% year-over-year to $33 billion.
North America made up 59% of total sales in the third quarter, down from 60% in Q2; International made up 23%; and AWS made up 18%.
Amazon’s net income increased 38% year-over-year to $21.2 billion in the third quarter compared with $15.3 billion in third quarter 2024. (Amazon noted: “Q3 2025 net income includes pre-tax gains of $9.5 billion included in non-operating income (expense) from our investments in Anthropic, PBC.”)
Amazon grew worldwide paid units 11% in the third quarter, and third-party sellers accounted for 62% of worldwide paid units. (Those figures exclude Whole Foods Market.)
Headcount rose 2% in Q3 to 1.578 million compared to the second quarter (1.546 million); the number was up 1.74% from a year ago (1.551 million). Headcount includes full-time and part-time employees but excludes contractors and temporary personnel.
Third quarter 2025 operating income was impacted two special charges – $2.5 billion related to a legal settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, and $1.8 billion in estimated severance costs primarily related to planned role eliminations.
Here’s what Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in Thursday’s press release:
“We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business. AWS is growing at a pace we haven’t seen since 2022, re-accelerating to 20.2% YoY. We continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we’ve been focused on accelerating capacity – adding more than 3.8 gigawatts in the past 12 months.
“In Stores, we continue to realize the benefits of innovating in our fulfillment network, and we’re on track to deliver to Prime members at the fastest speeds ever again this year, expand same-day delivery of perishable groceries to over 2,300 communities by end of year, and double the number of rural communities with access to Amazon’s Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery.”
Amazon included a list of some developments that occurred since its last earnings announcement, including the following ones that may be of greatest interest to sellers:
Increased number of rural communities with access to Amazon’s Same-Day and Next-Day Delivery by 60% in past four months.
Expanded Same-Day Delivery of perishable groceries to 1,000+ cities and towns in the U.S., with plans to reach 2,300+ locations by end of 2025.
Saw strong usage of Rufus (AI-powered assistant in Amazon’s store), with 250 million customers using it this year. Shoppers using Rufus are 60% more likely to complete a purchase.
Empowered sellers with genAI tools, with over 1.3 million independent sellers using these tools to easily create high quality, engaging product listings and bring even more selection to customers.
Expanded Multi-Channel Fulfillment to sellers using Walmart, Shopify, and SHEIN, so brands can reach customers wherever they shop while leveraging Amazon’s fast, reliable fulfillment network.
Announced partnerships that allow advertisers to buy ad space on Netflix, Spotify, and SiriusXM Media through Amazon Ads.
Began offering Zoox’s robotaxi service to customers in Las Vegas—becoming first fully autonomous ride-hailing service in a purpose-built robotaxi—and announced Washington D.C. as eighth testing location.
Announced plans to add hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs this holiday season, including 250,000 in the U.S., 150,000 in India, and thousands across Australia, Canada, France, Spain, and Central Europe.
Announced planned $1.9 billion investment in Delivery Service Partner program in North America, adding to total investment of $16.7 billion over last seven years, supporting safety programs, training, and new technology.
Amazon’s full earnings release is published on the Amazon Investor Relations website.