By Greg Bensinger and Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Amazon's cloud revenue rose at the fastest clip in nearly three years, helping the company forecast quarterly sales above estimates and driving its shares up 14% in after-market trading. The company projected increased capital spending next year. The online retailer benefited as businesses continue to spend relentlessly on artificial intelligence software development. Massive cloud ​demand is helping the tech company ease the pressure from softer grow ...

Amazon.com forecast quarterly revenue largely below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, hurt by a weaker retail business as strong demand for its cloud services as businesses continue to spend relentle... ...

Key Points Apple is a laggard in the AI revolution, and you can see it in its financial performance. Amazon is utilizing AI and automation in its cloud computing and e-commerce businesses. Alphabet is best positioned to monetize AI among the big technology players. 10 stocks we like better than Amazon › Apple is currently the second most valuable company in the world, with a market cap of $3.9 trillion. But is it actually an artificial intelligence (AI) loser? The smartphone maker has lost tons of ...

Core Insights - Amazon is under pressure to demonstrate a solid plan to maintain its leading position in the cloud market, especially with increased capital expenditures from competitors like Google, Meta, and Microsoft [2][5] - AWS currently holds a 30% market share, significantly ahead of Microsoft Azure at 20%, but faces challenges as competitors grow their cloud revenues at a faster rate [2][3] - Amazon's backlog is weaker compared to Microsoft and Oracle, which could impact future revenue growth, although AWS CEO Matt Garmins notes that backlog is not a perfect metric for gauging future performance [3] Company Positioning - Amazon has lost significant AI workloads to competitors, with Anthropic expanding its partnership with Google Cloud and Meta signing a new contract with Alphabet for compute services [4][5] - The key question for Amazon heading into earnings is whether it can match competitors' capital expenditures and demonstrate a return on investment from that spending [5]

Core Insights - Amazon.com Inc. has launched its Project Rainier supercomputer, which utilizes nearly 500,000 Trainium2 chips, marking a significant advancement in its artificial intelligence capabilities [1][4] - The operational Rainier system positions Amazon Web Services (AWS) to capture a larger share of the growing AI training and inference market, potentially adding billions in revenue by 2026 [1][5] AWS Performance and Projections - Analysts expect AWS revenue to increase by 19% year over year in 2026, slightly outpacing the 18% growth anticipated for 2025 [5] - The launch of Rainier is expected to significantly enhance AWS's capacity for AI workloads, with estimates suggesting up to $6 billion in additional revenue in 2026, contributing 4 percentage points to overall growth [5] Strategic Moves and Technology - Amazon's investment in proprietary technology, including Trainium chips and Nova models, is seen as a strategic differentiation in the competitive AI market [6] - AWS CEO has indicated that Trainium chips can outperform general-purpose alternatives, potentially reducing training and inference costs while improving AWS margins [7] Market Adoption and Future Developments - The upcoming earnings call and re:Invent conference are expected to showcase the benefits of the Rainier rollout and may introduce Trainium3, which could further enhance performance against other AI chipmakers [8] - Customer adoption over the next 18 months will be crucial in determining whether Trainium becomes a dominant platform in AI infrastructure or faces limitations in broader appeal [8]

This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Google reaped the rewards of rising enterprise AI services demand during the third quarter, reaching $102 billion in revenues during the period ending Sept. 30, executives said during an earnings call Wednesday.  Cloud revenues soared in Q3 for the hyperscaler, growing 34% year over year to $15.2 billion. Google's cloud unit sustained profitability and brought ...

JONAS ROOSENS / BELGA MAG / AFP via Getty Images Amazon's second-quarter cloud growth fell short of high expectations. Key Takeaways Investors will be focused on Amazon's cloud business and AI investments when the e-commerce giant reports third-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday. Amazon's second-quarter cloud growth disappointed Wall Street after big beats from competitors Alphabet and Microsoft, both of which reported strong results on Wednesday. Options pricing suggests some trader ...

Amazon, the latest and last cloud giant to report tonight after Microsoft and Google's results of course we got last night. Investors are watching for the growth at Amazon Web Services and also they'll keep an eye on the return on what Amazon is spending on AI. Mackenzie Sagalas has more on what we can expect in today's tech check.McKenzie, >> hey David. So, Amazon is under fresh pressure to prove that its AI investments are delivering real returns, especially after underdog Alphabet raised its capex and wa ...

Core Insights - Amazon is under pressure to demonstrate that its AI investments are yielding tangible returns, especially in light of Alphabet's increased capital expenditures and subsequent investor rewards [2][11] - Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the leading cloud provider, but it is losing significant workloads to competitors like Google and Microsoft [3][5] AWS Performance and Strategy - AWS revenue is projected to grow by just over 18%, while Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure are experiencing growth rates of 34% and 40%, respectively [5] - Amazon's infrastructure investments, including an $11 billion data center in Indiana, are aimed at supporting AI models, but there are concerns about whether these investments will translate into sufficient AWS revenue to maintain its market lead [5][6] Competitive Landscape - Major clients like Meta are signing substantial deals with competitors, such as a $10 billion agreement with Google, indicating a shift in workload preferences [3] - OpenAI is diversifying its cloud computing needs among Google, Azure, and Coreweave, which raises questions about Amazon's competitive positioning [4] AI and Compute Capabilities - Amazon's current AI strategy lacks clarity beyond its cloud offerings, and it is competing against companies like Nvidia, which have more advanced computing capabilities [2][8] - Analysts suggest that Amazon may need to acquire companies like Anthropic to enhance its competitive edge in AI [9][10] Retail Business Outlook - The retail segment is not the primary focus for investors, but there are expectations for growth in e-commerce, particularly as the holiday season approaches [12][13] - Bank of America projects that Amazon's e-commerce business has grown during the quarter, which could provide a positive offset to losses in other areas [13]

sbayram / Getty Images Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is gearing up for massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI), with capital expenditures projected to exceed $100 billion in 2025. This surge focuses on bolstering AI capabilities, expanding Amazon Web Services (AWS), and building out data centers to handle growing computational demands. Historically, Amazon's capex spending has followed cyclical patterns, with periods of heavy investment followed by phases of consolidation and payoff. During boom times, ...