Amazon proved its dominance this quarter, smashing Wall Street’s expectations for both profit and sales. The company’s stock leaped 9% in after-hours trading after it posted $1.95 in earnings per share, crushing the $1.58 consensus.
Total revenue for the quarter reached $180.17bn, well above the $177.82bn analysts had projected. This success was largely driven by the continued, rapid growth of its cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS).
AWS revenue grew 20% to $33bn, beating estimates and logging its fastest growth pace since 2022. This strong performance came despite a significant global outage earlier in the month, which ultimately failed to hinder its financial results.
The company is leveraging this strength to compete in the AI race. Executives highlighted the integration of the Rufus shopping assistant and the expansion of its Zoox autonomous driving unit.
This financial success, however, was paired with the news of 14,000 corporate job cuts. CEO Andy Jassy told investors the layoffs were not driven by AI or finances, but by a “culture” shift to a “startup-style” operation.