Amazon reported a double-digit rise in quarterly revenues as it began to see gains from the “once in a lifetime opportunity” of generative artificial intelligence and strong advertising demand, sending shares higher in after-hours trading on Thursday. As companies scramble to develop and implement generative AI tools, they are demanding more and more cloud capacity to store their data.
2bn and up more than 50 per cent on a year earlier, and revenue from Amazon’s advertising business jumped 19 per cent to $14.3bn. Shares of Amazon, which are up almost 25 per cent in the year to date, rose 6 per cent in after-hours trading, which would push the company’s market valuation past $2tn. Amazon’s market capitalisation has more than doubled over the past five years, propelled by growing cloud and advertising businesses as well as expanding margins in its core retail business.