Wall Street Is Rewarding AI Results, Not Just AI Spending

Score one for Andy Jassy and his team at Amazon (AMZN). After months of AMZN stock underperforming the S&P 500 ($SPX) on fears that the company was spending too much, too fast on its artificial intelligence (AI) buildout, the CEO put those fears to rest with the latest earnings report. The release made one thing clear: Amazon’s AI strategy is paying off in a big way.

Amazon's second-quarter report recorded the fastest growth in Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 18 quarters, with the segment exceeding an annual run rate of $25 billion in AI revenue thanks to new agreements signed with several big companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Pinterest (PINS), Snowflake (SNOW), and Moody’s (MCO). Amazon also recorded a $25 billion annual run rate for its chips business, which includes its custom-built Trainium AI chip. Amazon has commitments from AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI, Uber Technologies (UBER), Pinterest, and numerous smaller startups.