Amazon crosses $3 trillion valuation for the first time as AI boom lifts cloud business
Shares hit a record high after AWS posted its strongest growth in more than four years, easing concerns over the pace of AI infrastructure spending.
Amazon’s market value topped $3 trillion for the first time on Monday, driven by a sharp rally following strong earnings and signs that the artificial intelligence boom is fueling renewed demand for its cloud computing business, the company’s main profit engine.
Amazon shares rose 5% to $285.01, reaching a record high. The stock has gained more than 23% so far this year.
Amazon joins an exclusive group of companies that have reached a $3 trillion market capitalization. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Nvidia have previously crossed the threshold, with Nvidia currently the world’s most valuable company at a market capitalization approaching $5 trillion.
The rally followed the company’s earnings report last week, when shares recorded their biggest one-day jump since April 2012 after the Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud computing giant reported its strongest cloud growth in more than four years and raised its annual capital expenditure forecast.
"Amazon is probably the most emblematic company of the economy right now. It’s a consumer story and an AI story," said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.
"The big skepticism coming into earnings season was whether hyperscalers were turning down the spending on AI. We did not get that from Amazon and Microsoft, and that has unleashed a much broader all-clear for the market," he added.
Shares of other major cloud and AI companies also climbed on Monday.
Microsoft said last week that it expects to remain cash-generative through fiscal 2027 and forecast capital spending below Wall Street expectations, helping drive its biggest one-day stock gain since 2008.
However, the AI spending race is producing different results across the sector. Tesla and Alphabet both reported negative free cash flow in the latest quarter, the first time Alphabet has done so, while Meta’s free cash flow fell 91% as the companies continued investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure.
"We’re starting to see a differentiation between winners and losers in the Magnificent Seven. They have been treated like one big company for a long time, but after last week’s moves they are being treated as individual companies, which is a healthy sign that balance is returning," Hackett said.
Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon added another $1 trillion in market value in just over two years after first reaching a $2 trillion valuation in June 2024.
A major driver behind Amazon’s latest momentum is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has benefited from expanding partnerships in cloud infrastructure and AI chip supply with companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta.
