Amazon Finally Bags Walmart as Sales King, Seattle Cashes In

"The company reported full-year net sales of $716.9 billion for 2025, narrowly edging out Walmart's $713.2 billion for the 12 months ending Jan. 31, 2026. On paper, that slim margin is enough to put Amazon ahead, a changing of the guard that Bloomberg described as a formal handover of the revenue crown. The detailed tallies sit in an investor filing from Amazon."

"The milestone caps years of Amazon expanding far beyond its low-margin retail roots into higher-margin businesses that now do a lot of the heavy lifting. Cloud computing, digital advertising and fees from third-party sellers have all scaled up, helping speed overall revenue growth and reshape the mix of where Amazon's money comes from. Reporting and analysis point to advertising and seller services as major contributors to that shift, with additional context on those drivers available from Modern Retail and broader industry coverage in Fortune."

"Amazon has told investors it is planning roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, with most of that spending aimed at AWS, AI infrastructure and fulfillment. That kind of budget keeps the company's investment engine firmly centered on its tech operations and footprint, and underscores why decisions made in Amazon's South Lake Union and downtown offices ripple well beyond the corporate campus. For a breakdown of the spending plan and performance by business segment, see the latest filing from Amazon."

Amazon reported full-year net sales of $716.9 billion for 2025, narrowly surpassing Walmart's $713.2 billion for the 12 months ending Jan. 31, 2026. The revenue lead reflects Amazon's expansion into higher-margin businesses—cloud computing (AWS), digital advertising, and fees from third-party sellers—that have accelerated revenue growth and changed the company's income mix. Amazon plans roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, focusing on AWS, AI infrastructure and fulfillment. That investment strategy centers the company’s operations on technology and expands its local economic footprint in Seattle. Walmart still posted record revenues and e-commerce and advertising growth, keeping its dominant retail position.

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