Investors cheer as Amazon’s Q3 earnings crush expectations and AWSrebounds, just days after the tech giant announced plans to axe tens ofthousands of corporate jobs.
Wall Street Loves a Good Firing
It’s the kind of timing only Big Tech can pull off. Days after Amazon announcedplans to begin cutting up to 30,000 corporate jobs, itsstock surged 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday as investors celebrateda blowout third quarter. Cost-cutting, it seems, is the new innovation.
Don’t doubt this man again$AMZNpic.twitter.com/Zlm33ovRkR
— The Long Investor (@TheLongInvest) October 30, 2025
Thecompany reported earnings per share of $1.95 on revenue of $180.2 billion, beatingWall Street estimates of $1.58 and $177.8 billion respectively. Its cloud arm, AmazonWeb Services (AWS), hauled in $33 billion in revenue—up20% year-on-year and its fastest growth since 2022.
CEO Andy Jassy soundedpredictably bullish: “We continue to see strong momentum and growth acrossAmazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business.”Translation: the robots are coming, and they’re good for margins.
AI Dreams and Power Nightmares
Jassy didn’t stop there. He told investors Amazon has added 3.8gigawatts of capacity over the past year and plans to double that by 2027. Power,not chips, appears to be the main bottleneck, though that may soon shift. Inthe meantime, Amazon is still snapping up Nvidia’s finest silicon while toutingits homegrown Trainium2 chips, which are now part of a “multibillion-dollarbusiness” growing 150% quarter over quarter.
Amazon laying off 30,000 people and then beating on earnings so much that the stock gained $250 billion dollars in 1 minute is all you need to know about what AI is going to do to society. pic.twitter.com/Js5JVoBoDu
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) October 30, 2025
Amazon even unveiled Project Rainier, a massive AI cluster featuring500,000 of those chips. It’s a flex aimed squarely at Microsoft and Google,whose AI-cloud empires have made Amazon look sluggish. The company alsoconfirmed AI startup Anthropic has signed on to use one million custom Amazonchips to train and run its models, though Anthropicannounced a similar deal with Google just last week.
In other words: Amazon is in the AI race, just not leading it. Yet.
[#highlighted-links#]From Rufus to Rainier: The Great AI Pivot
If AI is the future, Amazon wants a piece of every corner. Thecompany’s new AI shopping assistant, Rufus, has reached 250 million users thisyear, and those users are 60% more likely to make a purchase, according toAmazon. Meanwhile, its “Help Me Decide” feature is quietly monetizingindecision, offering algorithmic guidance for the consumer who can’t choosebetween air fryers.
Amazon didn’t just cut 14,000 jobs. It cut latency.The headlines call it an AI layoff. But this isn’t about technology. It’s about throughput.Wall Street wants leverage. AI gives leadership a new language for delivering it:Fewer humans between signal and decisionFewer… pic.twitter.com/WQ1CEgaxby
— David Elkington (@DaveElkington) October 28, 2025
Jassy insists Amazon is monetising as fast as they’re bringing incapacity, and analysts seem convinced. Advertisingrevenue hit $17.7 billion, narrowly topping expectations, while retailsales rose 10%—helped by July’s Prime Day feeding frenzy.
A Tale of Two Headlines
But let’s rewind. Just before this euphoria, Amazonannounced plans to axe up to 30,000 corporate staff, the largest suchlayoff in its history. With Wall Street applauding the “leaner” Amazon, itlooks like a grim masterclass in timing.
Still, investors don’t seem bothered by the human cost. The $1.8billion in severance and $2.5 billion FTC settlement baked into this quarter’sresults barely dented enthusiasm. Amazon’s capital expenditure forecast nowsits at $125 billion for 2025—up from $118 billion earlier this year, withplans to spend even more in 2026.
Lean, Mean, and Lovin’ It
The results were so strong they lifted broader markets. Futures tied tothe S&P500 rose 0.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1%. Apple, which posted itsown upbeat quarter, rose 3% after-hours.
For the next quarter, Amazonis projecting sales between $206 billion and $213 billion, implying growthof up to 13%. Operating income is forecast between $21 billion and $26 billion,numbers that would make even the most hardened cost-cutter blush.
Wall Street, of course, rewarded it all with enthusiasm usuallyreserved for moon landings or AI breakthroughs. The message is clear: lay offtens of thousands, beat your numbers, and your stock soars.
The Bottom Line
Amazon has successfully convinced the market that ruthless efficiencyequals visionary leadership. Whether that holds when the next quarter rollsaround, and as the pink slips settle, is another story. For now, investors arehigh on AWS acceleration, AI optimism, and the faint smell of redundancy in theair.
This article was written by Louis Parks at www.financemagnates.com.
