Amazon.com, Inc. shares soar as AI boom fuels stellar growth in AWS cloud unit

Amazon shares surged more than 11% after the company announced 20% year-on-year revenue growth for its cloud arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), in Q3. While rivals posted higher growth rates (Microsoft Azure ~40%, Google Cloud ~34%), AWS’s sheer scale and regained momentum boosted investor confidence. The retail business also delivered 11% growth, and the advertising segment grew 24% to US$17.7 billion. The earnings result is viewed as a turning point for Amazon’s AI-cloud strategy after a sluggish year-to-date performance.