Amazon’s Strongest Cloud Growth Since 2022 Fuels 9% Stock Spike

Amazon’s stock surged 9% after the company announced its cloud division, AWS, is growing at its fastest rate since 2022. AWS reported a 20% year-over-year revenue jump to $33bn, easily beating Wall Street’s $32.42bn forecast.
This impressive performance was the highlight of a quarter that saw Amazon beat expectations across the board. The company’s total revenue hit $180.17bn, and earnings per share were $1.95, far above the $1.58 consensus.
The cloud division’s strength is notable given it recently suffered a major global outage. The financial results indicate that the technical failure did not impact customer spending or trust in the long run.
Amazon is now focusing on the AI race, where it has faced skepticism from investors. The company highlighted its work on the Rufus shopping assistant and its Zoox robotaxi business as it competes with Microsoft and Google.
However, the company is also in the process of laying off 14,000 corporate employees. CEO Andy Jassy told investors this was a “culture” move to become more “nimble,” not a decision driven by AI or finances.