All eyes are on Amazon.com Inc. this Thursday as the e-commerce and cloud giant reports quarterly results, with investors watching closely for signs that its crown jewel, Amazon Web Services (AWS), can buck the tech sector’s recent slump.
The focus comes after Microsoft Corp.’s cloud slowdown rattled the market last week, sending shares down 14% and wiping out more than $500 billion in value. Amazon investors now wonder whether Azure’s struggles signal broader weakness in cloud computing — or are Microsoft-specific issues.
“It isn’t clear how much of Microsoft’s disappointment is company-specific versus a slowdown in the cloud space,” said David Miller, CIO at Catalyst Funds. “If it’s the latter, it could carry over.”
AWS Growth Will Be Under Scrutiny
Wall Street expects AWS to report $34.8 billion in revenue for Q4, a 21% year-over-year increase, while Amazon’s overall revenue is projected at $211.5 billion and adjusted EPS at $2.40. Analysts say the numbers will be a key signal for whether Amazon can sustain cloud momentum amid heightened AI-related spending and anti-software sentiment across the sector.
“Investors are pricing for extraordinarily high growth,” noted Miller. “Growth that’s merely high isn’t enough.”
Retail, AI, and Capital Investments in the Mix
Beyond AWS, investors will scrutinize margin expansion, retail performance, and Amazon’s AI projects, including the Rufus chatbot and investments in Anthropic PBC and potentially $50 billion in OpenAI. Amazon’s $8 billion Anthropic stake has already bolstered prior profits, and its value could influence Thursday’s report.
While other revenue lines could cushion an AWS miss, cloud computing remains Amazon’s marquee business, with market watchers calling it the “jewel” of the company.
Tech Sentiment Remains Fragile
The broader tech landscape adds pressure. Alphabet’s strong cloud growth was offset by planned capital expenditure increases, Qualcomm and Arm were hit by memory-chip concerns, and AI-driven market volatility has investors parsing winners from losers across the sector.
Amazon’s report could set the tone not just for the stock but for cloud computing expectations across tech, determining whether AWS can maintain its lead in the rapidly evolving AI era.
Shares of Amazon have been relatively muted so far in 2026, trading at 24 times forward earnings, far below its decade-long average of 46x. Analysts say Thursday’s results may need to be exceptionally strong to reset the narrative and restore investor confidence.
In short, the market will be watching AWS for signs of resilience, retail for evidence of continued strength, and AI initiatives for hints at Amazon’s future dominance in the cloud-driven economy.