Technology

Amazon shares jump 7%, approach record after earnings beat

Published

1 year ago

November 1, 2024

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco on June 8, 2022.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon shares jumped 7% on Friday and neared an all-time high after the company reported better-than-expected earnings, driven by growth in its cloud computing and advertising businesses.

The stock is up about 32% for the year and touched $200.50 on Friday. Its highest close was $200, a mark the stock hit twice in July.

Revenue increased 11% in the quarter to $158.9 billion, topping the $157.2 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by LSEG. Earnings of $1.43 topped the average analyst estimate of $1.14.

Sales in the Amazon Web Services cloud business increased 19% to $27.4 billion, coming in just shy of analysts’ estimates, according to StreetAccount. That was an acceleration from 12% a year ago, but trailed growth at rivals Microsoft and Google, where cloud revenue increased 33% and 35%, respectively. Microsoft’s Azure number includes other cloud services.

Amazon’s capital expenditures surged 81% year over year to $22.62 billion, as the company continues to invest in data centers and equipment such as Nvidia processors to power artificial intelligence products. Amazon has launched several AI products in its cloud and e-commerce businesses, and it is also expected to announce a new version of its Alexa voice assistant powered by generative AI.

“Amazon has integrated AI into what is the most diverse tech footprint of any mega cap, with multi-billion revenue streams in e-commerce, advertising, subscriptions, online video, and cloud,” analysts at Roth MKM wrote in a note after the earnings report. They have a buy rating on the stock.

Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, said on the earnings call that the majority of the company’s 2024 capex spending is to support the growing need for technology infrastructure.

CEO Andy Jassy said the company plans to spend about $75 billion on capex in 2024 and that he suspects the company will spend more next year.

“The increased bumps here are really driven by generative AI,” Jassy said on the call. “It is a really unusually large, maybe once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity,” he said, noting that shareholders “will feel good about this long term that we’re aggressively pursuing it.”

Advertising was another bright spot. Sales in the unit expanded 19% to $14.3 billion during the quarter, meeting expectations and outpacing growth in Amazon’s core retail business.

Amazon’s ad growth was about in line with Meta, which saw 18.7% expansion, and faster than growth at Google, which reported a 15% increase in ad revenue. Snap‘s sales also jumped 15% from a year earlier.

Amazon forecast revenue in the current quarter to be between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion, which would represent growth of 7% to 11% year over year. The midpoint of that range, $185 billion, fell short of the average analyst estimate of $186.2 billion, according to LSEG.

— CNBC’s Ari Levy contributed to this report.

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Technology

Social media users report Netflix outage during ‘Stranger Things’ premiere

Published

5 hours ago

November 27, 2025

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Social media users report Netflix outage during 'Stranger Things' premiere

A Netflix logo is on display at the Lucca Comics & Games 2025 event, one of Europe’s largest pop culture conventions, as stars and creators of “Stranger Things” series launch Season 5, in Lucca, Italy, October 31, 2025.

Claudia Greco | Reuters

Users on social media posted that they were experiencing issues with Netflix’s service on Wednesday, the night of the widely anticipated “Stranger Things” fifth-season premiere.

DownDetector.com on Wednesday said “User reports indicate problems at Netflix.”

“Netflix fix your app bro,” one X user posted.

Users began reporting issues with Netflix around 7:40 p.m. Eastern, according to DownDetector.com. Netflix had said the latest season of “Stranger Things” would go live Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Netflix said it would release the first four episodes of the “Stranger Things” fifth season on Wednesday. The streaming service has said it will release another three episodes on Dec. 25 and the final episode of the show on Dec. 31.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

Technology

CNBC Daily Open: An early Thanksgiving celebration in U.S. markets

Published

6 hours ago

November 27, 2025

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CNBC Daily Open: An early Thanksgiving celebration in U.S. markets

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Nov. 26, 2025.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Thanksgiving in the U.S. takes place on Thursday stateside, but the feasting might have begun a day early for investors. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all recorded a fourth straight day of gains.

Shares of Oracle, which have been hobbling along in November after wiping out its one-day spike in September, advanced roughly 4% after Deutsche Bank said that its recent price pullback “presents an attractive entry point for investors when looking at Oracle’s business in totality.” Other technology and AI-related stocks, such as Nvidia and Microsoft, rose in sympathy.

“Thanksgiving week is generally a strong week in the markets. Everyone’s feeling good,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director at The Wealth Alliance.

It’s what happens after Thanksgiving that might cause some pause.

The futures market is now pricing in a roughly 85% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in December. When expectations are too high — and not met — disappointment will be all the more painful.

“If the Fed disappoints, you could have a sell-off,” Diton said — but added, “I don’t think they will.”

And if White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett does assume the role of Fed chair when Jerome Powell vacates his seat, rates could trend even lower in the future, wrote Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave.

Looser monetary policy tends to provide more support for stocks — that notion seems to be behind optimistic targets for the S&P 500 by the end of 2026. So far, the numbers that have been floated are 7,400 from CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall, and as high as 8,000 from JPMorgan.

Investors indeed have much to be thankful for in 2025 — and possibly the next year as well.

What you need to know today

Fourth straight day of gains for U.S. stocks. Major indexes closed higher on Wednesday, lifted by technology firms such as Oracle and Nvidia. Europe’s Stoxx 600 added 1.09%. U.K. banks climbed following the release of the country’s budget.

Apple’s smartphone shipments to overtake Samsung. The company will ship around 243 million iPhones this year, higher than the 235 million smartphones from Samsung, Counterpoint Research wrote. It’d be the first time in 14 years Apple will outstrip its rival.

UK unveils its Autumn Budget. Some measures Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday include tax breaks for startup employees and investors, and frozen income tax thresholds — which have been described as “stealth tax” for workers.

AI can replace 11.7% of U.S. workforce, MIT says. That’s equivalent to $1.2 trillion in wages across finance, health care and professional services. The study, which was released Wednesday by the university, created a simulation of 151 million U.S. workers.

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