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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, Feb. 26, 2025.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Amazon is slated to announce its first-quarter earnings after the market close on Thursday.

Here’s what analysts are looking for:

  • Earnings per share: $1.36 expected, according to LSEG
  • Revenue: $155.04 billion expected, according to LSEG

Wall Street is also looking at other key revenue numbers:

  • Amazon Web Services: $29.42 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
  • Advertising: $13.74 billion expected, according to StreetAccount

The topic of tariffs will hover over Amazon’s earnings report. Several of the company’s businesses are exposed to President Donald Trump‘s new tariffs, especially its core retail unit. Investors will want to know whether Trump’s 145% levy on China could impact Amazon’s margins, and whether uncertainty around the tariffs has caused shoppers to be more cautious with their spending.

The results come days after the White House ripped Amazon over a report that the company planned to display tariff-related costs to shoppers. Amazon said no such change was coming, and that it only considered adding a line item to products sold via its discount storefront, called Haul.

“This was never approved and is not going to happen,” Amazon said in a blog post on Tuesday.

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC last month the company is working to keep prices low for consumers, including by making strategic forward inventory buys on products overseas. But he acknowledged some third-party sellers will “need to pass that cost” of tariffs to consumers.

Analysts believe Trump’s tariffs could provide a boost to Amazon’s retail business, at least in the short term, as some shoppers have stocked up on items in anticipation of price hikes.

Retail sales rose 1.4% in March, after rising 0.2% in February, according to Commerce Department data, indicating there may have been a pull forward in spending.

Investors will be keeping a close eye on Amazon’s guidance for the current quarter. Some analysts have suggested the impact of Trump’s tariffs may not show up until then, or potentially the third quarter.

“A meaningful portion of products sold on the eCommerce platform (apparel, furniture, toys, accessories, consumer electronics, etc.) come from China, which may impact forward guidance,” Canaccord analysts wrote in a note to clients this week. “That said, we think Amazon’s vast product selection and structural advantages in price and logistics should enable it to mitigate some of the impact.”

Amazon could also potentially benefit from Trump’s executive order to end the de minimis trade exemption, which is set to take effect on Friday. Discount Chinese retailers Temu and Shein have relied heavily on the loophole, which allows shipments under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, as a way to keep their prices low.

Both companies began raising prices last week, while Temu added “import charges” between 130% and 150% to some of its products. The prices of many of their products are more aligned with competitors like Amazon, but could still take more than a week to arrive.

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Amazon year to date stock performance

Outside of retail, Amazon’s cloud computing business and investments in AI will also be in focus. It’s been a mixed bag for Amazon’s cloud peers so far. Microsoft reported strong cloud growth in its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, while Alphabet‘s cloud revenue fell just short of estimates last week.

For the quarter, analysts are projecting AWS revenue of $29.4 billion, according to StreetAccount. That would represent growth of 17.6%, compared to 18.9% growth in the fourth quarter.

Amazon last quarter pledged to boost capital expenditures to $100 billion this year, with the “vast majority” going toward AI services. The company has been rushing to roll out AI products across its businesses. In March, Amazon released a new AI agent for web browsers, and it began testing new AI assistants for its shopping and health platforms.

Amazon’s stock is down more than 13% year to date, while the Nasdaq has fallen less than a percent over the same stretch.

WATCH: Tariff spat reveals big tech tensions

Trump vs. Amazon: Tariff spat reveals big tech tensions

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Shaq, Sam Altman-backed college startup Campus taps former Meta AI head as CTO

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Shaq, Sam Altman-backed college startup Campus taps former Meta AI head as CTO

Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.

Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Campus, a college startup backed by Sam Altman, has hired Meta‘s former AI Vice President Jerome Pesenti as its technology head, the company announced Friday.

As part of the deal, Campus will buy Pesenti’s artificial intelligence learning platform Sizzle AI for an undisclosed amount and integrate its personalized AI-generated educational content already used by 1.7 million people.

The acquisition advances the company’s “roadmap” by two to three years and helps the platform cater learning toward individual student needs, said Tade Oyerinde, Campus founder and chancellor.

“This is a game changer,” he told CNBC.

Campus was founded to disrupt the community college system by “maximizing access to world-class education,” according to its website. It offers accredited associate degrees taught by adjunct professors from the likes of Stanford, Princeton and New York University.

The platform has over 3,000 enrolled students, charges $7,320 per academic year and accepts Pell Grants, according to its website. It also provides attendees with a laptop, mobile Wi-Fi pack, personal success coach and 24/7 tutoring access. Professors make upwards of $8,000 per course.

Campus has raised over $100 million from the likes of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, General Catalyst, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Figma CEO Dylan Field.

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Singapore police probe Nvidia customer Megaspeed over alleged China export violations

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Singapore police probe Nvidia customer Megaspeed over alleged China export violations

Singapore authorities are investigating artificial intelligence computing firm Megaspeed, a customer of American AI chipmaker Nvidia, for allegedly helping Chinese companies evade curbs on U.S. chip exports.

“The Singapore Police Force confirms that investigations are ongoing into Megaspeed for suspected breaches of our domestic laws,” the police told CNBC in an email.

The probe comes as the New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. Commerce Department was also investigating whether Megaspeed skirted American export controls, citing anonymous officials and other people familiar with the matter.

The twin investigations into Megaspeed could raise questions about Nvidia’s ability to track its chip exports effectively and to comply with U.S. restrictions on the sale of its most advanced AI chips to China. 

According to an Nvidia spokesperson, the company had engaged the U.S. government on the matter and performed its own inquiry, without identifying “any reason to believe products have been diverted.” 

 “NVIDIA visited multiple Megaspeed sites yet again earlier this week and confirmed what we previously observed—Megaspeed is running a small commercial cloud, like many other companies throughout the world, as allowed by U.S. export control rules,” they said in a statement shared with CNBC Friday. 

Megaspeed didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. Commerce Department. 

The Times reported that Megaspeed, which spun off from a Chinese gaming company in 2023, bought nearly $2 billion worth of Nvidia’s most advanced products through its subsidiary in Malaysia.

Export loophole concerns 

The case surrounding Megaspeed highlights broader concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. export restrictions on advanced technologies, such as Nvidia’s AI processors. 

The U.S. government has, for years, restricted sales of advanced AI chips to China, citing concerns they could strengthen Beijing’s military and give it an edge in broader AI development, among others. 

But experts and lawmakers in Washington have long warned about loopholes in Washington’s export controls, while reports indicate that a massive black market for smuggled Nvidia chips has also emerged. 

The House Select Committee on China in April questioned Nvidia’s shipment of chips to China and Southeast Asia after reports that Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek used the company’s chips to train a groundbreaking AI model.

Just a few months prior, Singapore had launched a separate probe into the alleged smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips, which were declared bound for Malaysia but may have been diverted elsewhere, including China.

In response to such cases and mounting U.S. pressure, Malaysia announced in July that it would begin requiring permits for all exports and transfers of Nvidia chips.

Outsourcing to Southeast Asia?

Chinese companies have also exploited a legal gray area by tapping into computing power from data centers in Southeast Asia equipped with restricted Nvidia chips, according to recent reports.

For example, Megaspeed was using its Nvidia chips for data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, which appeared to be remotely serving customers in China, according to the Times.

Nvidia didn’t directly address this claim, but said in its statement that the Trump administration’s recent AI Action plan “rightfully encourages businesses worldwide to embrace U.S. standards and U.S. leadership, benefiting national and economic security.”

Malaysia checking with data center companies if chips have 'gone to the right parties': Minister

The Trump administration has recently signaled interest in ensuring Nvidia maintains its global market dominance — even in China — though its AI Action plan also called for strengthening enforcement of export controls globally.

Lawmakers in Washington have also proposed bills that could see Nvidia required to outfit its chips with tracking systems.

Such proposals have received pushback from Beijing, which froze imports of Nvidia’s chips after the Trump administration said it would roll back restrictions on some of the firm’s chips made specifically for China.

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Qualcomm shares fall after China opens antitrust probe into the U.S. chip giant

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Qualcomm shares fall after China opens antitrust probe into the U.S. chip giant

Microchip and Qualcomm logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 10, 2023.

Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Qualcomm shares fell on Friday after Chinese regulators said it would investigate the American tech giant’s acquisition of chip firm Autotalks, ramping up tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of key meetings between the country’s leaders this month.

Shares were last around 3% lower in premarket trading.

China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said that Qualcomm is suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law in regards to its acquisition of Israeli firm Autotalks. The acquisition officially closed in June, just over two years after it was first announced.

In a short statement, the SAMR said it would initiate an investigation into Qualcomm.

Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. The company sells its smartphone chips to some of the biggest players in China such as Xiaomi.

U.S. tech companies have recently been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators ramping up tensions between Beijing and Washington ahead of key talks.

In September, the SAMR alleged that Nvidia had violated the country’s anti-monopoly law in relation to its acquisition of Mellanox and some agreements made during the acquisition. Meanwhile, Beijing has reportedly been discouraging local firms from buying Nvidia chips.

This week, China also tightened export controls on rare earths and related technologies. Rare earths are critical to high-tech industries, including automobiles, defense and semiconductors.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet in person on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum during the last week of October in Gyeongju, South Korea.

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