Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“It’s funny how quickly the mood can change. Not long ago, Alphabet delivered strong results and was still punished for opening the capex taps wider. Since then, Amazon and Microsoft have cemented the bullish cloud growth story, and the hyperscalers have recovered much, if not all, of that post-Alphabet wobble. Amazon’s message was particularly powerful: AWS is accelerating, margins remain strong, and the huge infrastructure buildout is already translating into better growth and profit.
Higher spending still brings pressure on cash flow, but it looks far less alarming when demand continues to run ahead of supply, and much of the new capacity is backed by customer commitments. The breadth of Amazon’s cloud order book also matters, showing that this is not a story resting on one or two major AI customers. Investors wanted proof that the AI spending boom could generate attractive returns, and Amazon has delivered its clearest evidence yet.”
The author holds shares in Amazon.
Notes to Editors
HL is the UK’s largest investment and savings platform for private investors and more than 2.2 million clients trust us with £205 billion (as of June 2026).
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