Overview
- Amazon reports results after the bell Wednesday, with investors fixated on Amazon Web Services, the cloud arm that generates much of the company’s profit.
- FactSet consensus calls for earnings of $1.63 per share on $177.28 billion in revenue, with AWS sales near $36.6 billion for roughly 25% year-over-year growth.
- Shares have risen about 30% over the past month following new AI partnerships with OpenAI and Meta and a larger funding commitment to Anthropic, while options markets price a move near 3.4% after the release.
- Amazon outlined a $200 billion AI investment plan for 2026 and first-quarter capital purchases are estimated at about $43.6 billion, which puts pressure on free cash flow and retail margins.
- Analysts maintain a Strong Buy rating with an average price target near $289, though UBS’s Stephen Ju projects faster AWS expansion than peers while Evercore’s Mark Mahaney flags cautious Q2 operating income guidance.