Amazon's blowout second-quarter 2026 earnings of $5.75 per share were inflated by $53.4 billion in unrealized paper gains, mostly from its stake in Anthropic. The company reported net income of $62.6 billion, but more than 85% of that came from paper gains rather than operating profit. Excluding those gains, Amazon's earnings would have been $9.2 billion, or $0.8526 per share, making its price-to-earnings ratio much higher than the S&P 500 average. Paper gains are unrealized increases in the value of stock holdings that companies must include in net income under GAAP and IFRS. Investors can find these gains in income statements under headings like 'Unrealized gains and losses' or 'Other income' in SEC filings.
Amazon.com IncEarnings inflated by paper gains, excluding which P/E is much higher than S&P 500 average.
Amazon's paper gains from its stake in Anthropic, but no direct impact on Anthropic's own valuation.
