Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) cloud computing division experienced its most robust sales growth in a year, indicating a recovery from a previous downturn as businesses resume investing in technology projects, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) services.
While the cloud performance surged, the company’s sales forecast for the current quarter fell short of estimates, reflecting cautious consumer spending in the main e-commerce business.
CEO Andy Jassy’s strategic focus on cost reduction and profitability in Amazon’s online shopping segment has been accompanied by significant investments in AI services. These investments are now yielding results, with Amazon anticipating tens of billions in revenue from AI services in the coming years.
In the first quarter, Amazon reported an operating profit of $15.3 billion, with revenue increasing by 13% to $143.3 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud unit recorded sales of $25 billion, marking a 17% year-over-year increase and exceeding analysts’ estimates.
According to CFO Brian Olsavsky, AWS is witnessing strong demand signals from customers, with increased commitments, including generative AI components. Generative artificial intelligence has emerged as a multi-billion dollar revenue stream for Amazon, reflecting the growing adoption of AI-powered solutions.
However, supporting the growth of AI services comes with substantial costs. Amazon anticipates a significant increase in capital expenditures in 2024, primarily to support AWS growth, including investments in generative AI. The company plans to invest over $150 billion in building and operating data centers in the coming years.
After a slowdown in sales growth last year, AWS is expected to rebound, especially following strong results from Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon’s main competitors in the cloud computing market.
AWS reported a profit of $9.42 billion in the quarter, with an operating margin of 37.6%, the widest since the disclosure of cloud sales. Despite experiencing layoffs last year, AWS has maintained profitability and strategic hiring.
Amazon’s revenue forecast for the upcoming quarter is $144 billion to $149 billion, slightly below analysts’ projections. Slowing e-commerce sales have prompted Amazon to seek growth opportunities in other areas, such as advertising, which rose by 24% to $11.8 billion in the first quarter.
Following the announcement, Amazon shares rose by 3.2% to $180.59 as the markets opened in New York, reflecting a positive sentiment towards the company’s performance and strategic initiatives.
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