What Happened?
Shares of cloud computing and online retail behemoth Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) jumped 10.4% in the afternoon session after the company reported third-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's expectations, driven by strong growth in its cloud computing division. Amazon's net sales rose 13.4% from the previous year to $180.2 billion, beating estimates, while earnings per share came in at $1.95, also well above analysts' forecasts. A key highlight was Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's cloud unit, where sales growth accelerated to 20%, a rate not seen since 2022, reaching $33.01 billion. This strong performance from its most profitable division reassured investors. Additionally, the company's advertising business continued to show robust growth, with revenue increasing by 21.4% year-over-year. The positive results across key segments, particularly the acceleration in AWS, signaled healthy demand for the tech giant. Operating profit missed, but excluding two one-time charges, it would have beaten, and the market appeared to understand this. Overall, this print featured some key positives.
Is now the time to buy Amazon? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Amazon’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Amazon and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago when the stock dropped 4.4% on the news that President Trump threatened to impose "massive" new tariffs on Chinese imports, reigniting trade war fears. The unexpected announcement shattered a monthslong calm on Wall Street, sending major indices tumbling. The S&P 500 dropped around 1.3%, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7%. Investors reacted by selling off stocks, particularly in the technology and retail sectors, amid concerns that escalating trade tensions could disrupt global supply chains and increase costs for companies. The sell-off marked a significant reversal from the morning's slight gains, highlighting the market's sensitivity to geopolitical trade developments.
Amazon is up 11.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $246.04 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Amazon’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,638.
Do you want to know what moves the business you care about? Add them to your StockStory watchlist and every time a stock significantly moves, we provide you with a timely explanation straight to your inbox. It’s free for active Edge members and will only take you a second.
