Amazon's AI Bet Wins Big As Analyst Sees $1 Trillion AWS Opportunity
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) stock gained over 15% on Friday as investors reacted to a double beat in quarterly results and upbeat cloud/AI commentary. BNP Paribas analyst Nick Jones said Amazon delivered a strong second quarter, with AWS momentum supporting higher AI-related investment and a path to a much larger cloud opportunity. AWS Strength Supports The Bull Case Jones kept a positive view on Amazon with a $345 price forecast, implying 46% upside from the July 30 price of $235.50. He said Amazon beat expectations across the board, driven mainly by AWS and advertising services. Worldwide net sales reached $201 billion, about 2% above the $197 billion consensus estimate. AWS beat consensus by about 4%, while advertising services topped expectations by about 3%. Jones said AWS backlog grew more than 150% year over year and 36% quarter over quarter to $496 billion, supporting Ama...
com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) stock gained over 15% on Friday as investors reacted to a double beat in quarterly results and upbeat cloud/AI commentary. BNP Paribas analyst Nick Jones said Amazon delivered a strong second quarter, with AWS momentum supporting higher AI-related investment and a path to a much larger cloud opportunity. 50.
He said Amazon beat expectations across the board, driven mainly by AWS and advertising services. Worldwide net sales reached $201 billion, about 2% above the $197 billion consensus estimate. AWS beat consensus by about 4%, while advertising services topped expectations by about 3%. Jones said AWS backlog grew more than 150% year over year and 36% quarter over quarter to $496 billion, supporting Amazon’s elevated investment levels.
6 billion consensus estimate. 8 billion estimate. He said Amazon remains positioned as a key implementation layer in the AI ecosystem, while its other businesses can benefit from AI integrations. Jones also said management now sees AWS as at least twice its previous several-hundred-billion-dollar opportunity and potentially a $1 trillion business over time.
Guidance Reflects Prime Day Shift And Higher Capex Jones said Amazon guided third-quarter worldwide net sales to $197 billion to $202 billion, with the midpoint about 2% below the $204 billion consensus estimate. However, he said growth would be about 400 basis points higher after excluding the Prime Day shift between 2025 and 2026. 1 billion consensus estimate. The company also raised its full-year 2026 capital spending outlook to $220 billion from $200 billion, citing higher memory costs.
Jones attributed Amazon’s after-hours gain to strong second-quarter results, robust AWS momentum and better visibility into favorable data-center return dynamics. 10. 03 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Pro data. Photo via Shutterstock Read Also: Azure Ignites Microsoft Stock: AI-Fueled Earnings Beat Sparks 9% Rally