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Tag: Amazon.com

  • Douglas Herrington Sells 6,835 Shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock

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    Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Douglas Herrington sold 6,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.82, for a total value of $1,406,779.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,512,341.02. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

    Amazon.com Stock Performance

    AMZN opened at $210.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.93. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.38 and a 52-week high of $258.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.37.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.02 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 10.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

    Key Amazon.com News

    Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

    • Positive Sentiment: Analysts say AWS capacity expansion could drive upside: Bank of America and other analysts argue AWS is aggressively adding capacity (estimated ~15 GW by 2027), which could boost revenue and justify AWS growth expectations. Amazon’s AWS expansion could drive potential revenue upside
    • Positive Sentiment: BofA and other firms reiterate bullish ratings: BofA kept a Buy and $275 target citing AWS capacity advantages; Wells Fargo reiterated Overweight — analyst support tempers downside from the recent pullback. Is Amazon underestimated? Analyst note
    • Positive Sentiment: Concrete capacity buildouts: Amazon pledged a $12B Louisiana data‑center investment to support AI/cloud demand — tangible capacity increases that underpin AWS revenue growth and justify part of the broader capex narrative. Amazon pledges $12B for Louisiana data centers
    • Neutral Sentiment: Leadership/AGI research change: The head of Amazon’s AGI lab is leaving — watch for follow-up on leadership and research continuity; impact on near-term revenue is unclear. Head of Amazon’s AGI lab is leaving
    • Neutral Sentiment: Short-term market tailwinds: cooperation news in the AI ecosystem (e.g., Anthropic excursions) has helped software/cloud names rally, giving AMZN some momentum independent of fundamentals. Anthropic extends enterprise olive branch
    • Negative Sentiment: Investor anxiety over massive AI capex: Ongoing debate about Amazon’s ~ $200B AI/data‑center capex plan is pressuring the stock — questions on timing of returns and FCF impact continue to weigh on valuation. 200B AI spending debate
    • Negative Sentiment: Insider sales: multiple senior execs (including filings from CEO Andy Jassy and others) disclosed sizable stock sales last week — a near‑term negative sentiment signal that can amplify downward pressure. Jassy Form 4 filing
    • Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risks rising: California seeks an injunction over alleged merchant‑bullying on pricing, Italy banned an Amazon unit from processing staff data, and Spain flagged delays in compliance — potential fines, restrictions or compliance costs add uncertainty. California seeks injunction Italy privacy ban Spain antitrust note
    • Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest and market positioning: reported increases in short positions and sector rotation into Energy/Utilities amplify volatility risk for AMZN if sentiment sours further.

    Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

    Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 4th quarter worth $32,868,735,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 20,598.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 87,982,814 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $20,308,193,000 after purchasing an additional 87,557,736 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the first quarter worth about $11,674,091,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 879.4% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 27,862,400 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,431,199,000 after buying an additional 25,017,588 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 849,721,601 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $186,420,422,000 after buying an additional 17,447,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

    Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

    Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMZN shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Amazon.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.29.

    Get Our Latest Analysis on Amazon.com

    About Amazon.com

    (Get Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

    Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.

    See Also

    Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)



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  • Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Buys 50,671 Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

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    Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 3,196.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,256 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,671 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 2.5% of Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $11,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

    Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the third quarter valued at about $286,000. Elm Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the third quarter worth about $1,591,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 14,152 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV boosted its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV now owns 2,426 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,715 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,450,000 after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

    Amazon.com Stock Up 1.6%

    Amazon.com stock opened at $208.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.38 and a twelve month high of $258.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.06.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by ($0.02). Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $213.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

    Amazon.com News Roundup

    Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

    • Positive Sentiment: Amazon announced a major infrastructure push: a $12 billion data‑center buildout in northwest Louisiana to support AI and cloud demand — this is concrete capacity for AWS, strengthens the company’s AI/service revenue runway and supports longer‑term AWS growth. Amazon plans $12 billion data center buildout in Louisiana
    • Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: a tech-led market rally and reports of cooperation between Anthropic and software vendors boosted software/cloud stocks, helping AWS-exposed names like Amazon. This provides short‑term market momentum for AMZN. Anthropic Extends Enterprise Olive Branch, Lifts Software Stocks
    • Neutral Sentiment: Leadership and research changes: David Luan, head of Amazon’s AGI lab, is leaving after under two years — a development to monitor for AGI program continuity but not yet a clear hit to near‑term revenue. Head of Amazon’s AGI lab is leaving the company
    • Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: multiple senior executives (including CEO Andy Jassy and other senior officers) disclosed sizable share sales last week — a negative sentiment signal that can add pressure to the stock even if sales are routine. Jassy Form 4 filing
    • Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal headwinds: California asked a court to enjoin alleged merchant‑bullying on prices, and Italy’s privacy regulator banned an Amazon unit from processing staff personal data — potential fines, restrictions or adverse rulings could increase costs and uncertainty. California seeks injunction Italy privacy ban
    • Negative Sentiment: AI capex debate persists: investor unease about Amazon’s roughly $200 billion AI/data‑center capex plan continues to weigh on valuation (questions on timing of returns and free‑cash‑flow impact). Several recent articles argue the spending spooked the market and is the principal reason for the February drawdown. A $200 Billion AI Bet Is Either Amazon’s Masterstroke or Its Biggest Mistake

    Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

    Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Amazon.com from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Amazon.com from $340.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $311.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.29.

    Read Our Latest Analysis on AMZN

    Insiders Place Their Bets

    In related news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.90, for a total value of $554,900.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $24,662,702. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 6,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.82, for a total transaction of $1,406,779.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 522,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,512,341.02. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 73,186 shares of company stock worth $15,067,539. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

    Amazon.com Company Profile

    (Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

    Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.

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    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMZN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)



    Receive News & Ratings for Amazon.com Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Amazon.com and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.

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  • Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. Purchases Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

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    Representative Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. (D-California) recently bought shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). In a filing disclosed on December 15th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Amazon.com stock on November 18th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “150 MAIN STREET TRUST > BANK OF AMERICA” account.

    Representative Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. also recently made the following trade(s):

    • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) on 11/26/2025.
    • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on 11/26/2025.
    • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of First Watch Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:FWRG) on 11/26/2025.
    • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) on 11/26/2025.
    • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of RBC Bearings (NYSE:RBC) on 11/24/2025.
    • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) on 11/24/2025.
    • Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Logan Energy (CVE:LGN) on 11/24/2025.
    • Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Primoris Services (NASDAQ:PRIM) on 11/24/2025.
    • Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of LandBridge (NYSE:LB) on 11/21/2025.
    • Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of LandBridge (NYSE:LB) on 11/20/2025.

    Amazon.com Price Performance

    AMZN opened at $221.27 on Thursday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.38 and a twelve month high of $258.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $229.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.23.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $180.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.53 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

    Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

    Several research firms recently commented on AMZN. Truist Financial set a $290.00 price target on Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $285.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. CICC Research lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $300.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.50.

    Read Our Latest Report on AMZN

    Insider Activity at Amazon.com

    In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 19,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.94, for a total transaction of $4,311,031.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,208,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $479,070,771.40. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.61, for a total value of $280,316.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,925,398.28. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,234 shares of company stock valued at $19,076,767. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

    Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

    A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Amazon.com by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $885,478,000 after buying an additional 397,007 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $5,495,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Amazon.com by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,016,869 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $442,481,000 after purchasing an additional 54,987 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 28,975 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $6,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $2,153,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

    About Representative Cisneros

    Gil Cisneros (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing California’s 31st Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

    Cisneros (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent California’s 31st Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

    Gil Cisneros served in the U.S. Navy as a supply officer from 1994 to 2004. Cisneros earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from George Washington University in 1994, a master’s in business administration from Regis University in 2002, and a master’s degree in urban education policy from Brown University in 2015. His career experience includes working as a logistics manager for Frito-Lay. In 2010, Cisneros won the lottery and became involved in activism and philanthropy, founding a scholarship program for local high school students. In 2021, President Joe Biden (D) appointed Cisneros as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

    About Amazon.com

    (Get Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.

    Read More



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  • Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stake Boosted by Castleark Management LLC

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    Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 598,607 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,076 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com makes up 3.9% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $131,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 542,733.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 132,641,388 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $29,100,194,000 after buying an additional 132,616,953 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Amazon.com in the second quarter worth approximately $27,438,011,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 1st quarter worth $11,674,091,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 849,721,601 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $186,420,422,000 after purchasing an additional 17,447,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 22,085.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,177,557 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,671,634,000 after purchasing an additional 12,122,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

    Insiders Place Their Bets

    In related news, Director Daniel P. Huttenlocher sold 1,237 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.61, for a total transaction of $280,316.57. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,925,398.28. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $209,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,670,610. This trade represents a 11.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 82,234 shares of company stock valued at $19,076,767 in the last quarter. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

    Amazon.com Stock Down 1.8%

    AMZN opened at $226.19 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.38 and a 1-year high of $258.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $229.35 and a 200-day moving average of $224.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $180.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.53 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 earnings per share for the current year.

    Analyst Ratings Changes

    AMZN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective (up previously from $290.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, December 1st. Arete Research raised their price objective on Amazon.com from $248.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Amazon.com from $278.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, New Street Research lifted their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.43.

    View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AMZN

    About Amazon.com

    (Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.

    Featured Articles

    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMZN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)



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  • Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave $7.1 billion to nonprofits in 2025, a major increase

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott revealed $7.1 billion in donations to nonprofits in 2025 Tuesday, marking a significant increase in her annual giving from recent years.

    Writing in an essay on her website, Scott said, “This dollar total will likely be reported in the news, but any dollar amount is a vanishingly tiny fraction of the personal expressions of care being shared into communities this year.”

    Scott acknowledged donating $2.6 billion in 2024 and $2.1 billion in 2023. The gifts this year bring her total giving since 2019 to $26.3 billion.

    Scott’s donations have captured the attention of nonprofits and other charitable funders because they come with no strings attached and are often very large compared to the annual budgets of the recipient organizations. Forbes estimates Scott’s net worth at $33 billion, most of which comes from Amazon shares she received after her 2019 divorce from company founder Jeff Bezos..

    With the exception of an open call for applications in 2023, it is not possible to apply for her funding nor to reach her directly, as Scott maintains no public facing office or foundation. Organizations are usually notified through an intermediary that Scott is awarding them a donation with little prelude or warning.

    In advance of her announcement on her website, Yield Giving, more than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities revealed they had received $783 million in donations from Scott so far this year, according to research from Marybeth Gasman, a professor at Rutgers University and expert on HBCUs.

    “One of the things that I really admire about Mackenzie Scott is that she is like an equity machine,” Gasman said, especially at a time when efforts to promote equity in education have come under attack from the Trump administration. She also said Scott’s gifts to HBCUs this time are bigger than the round of donations she made in 2020.

    Not all of the schools that previously had received funding from Scott received a gift this time and there were some first-time recipients as well. In total, Gasman has tracked $1.35 billion in donations from Scott to HBCUs since 2020.

    In addition, UNCF, which is the largest provider of scholarships to minority students, received $70 million from Scott, and said it will invest the gift in a collective endowment it is building for participating HBCUs. Another $50 million went to Native Forward Scholars Fund, which had also received a previous gift from Scott and provides college and graduate scholarships to Native American students.

    Unlike Scott’s gifts, most foundations or major donors direct grants to specific programs and require an application and updates about the impact of the nonprofit’s work. Scott does not ask grantees to report back about how they used the money.

    Research from the Center for Effective Philanthropy in 2023 looked at the impact of Scott’s giving and found few of the recipients have struggled to manage the funds or have seen other funders pullback.

    Kim Mazzuca, the CEO of the California-based nonprofit, 10,000 Degrees, said her organization was notified of its first gift from Scott of $42 million earlier this year.

    “I was just filled with such joy. I was speechless and I kind of stumbled around with my words,” she said, and asked the person calling from Fidelity Charitable to clarify the donation amount, which is about double their annual budget.

    10,000 Degrees provides scholarships, mentoring and other support to low-income students and aims to help them graduate college without taking on loans. Mazzuca said that usually nonprofits grow only gradually, but that this gift will allow them to reach more students, to test some technology tools and to start an endowment.

    Mazzuca credited Scott for investing in proven solutions that already exist.

    “She comes from a very deep, reflective space, very heartfelt,” Mazzuca said. “And she’s only providing these financial means as a tool for people to recognize they are who they’ve been waiting for.”

    That idea references a prophecy from the Hopi Tribe that ends with the line, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Mazzuca said she’s drawn on the prophecy for years to empower both her organization and the students it supports to recognize their own power to shape our world.

    In October, Scott posted an essay on her website under that title and sharing the prophecy. The essay, which she expanded upon in December to announce her giving, also reflects on how acts of generosity and kindness can ripple far afield and into the future. She cited her own experiences getting help while in college, including a dentist who repaired a tooth for free and her roommate who loaned her $1,000.

    Scott now has invested in that same roommate’s company, which offers loans to students who would otherwise struggle to get financing from banks. The investments seem to be part of an effort Scott announced last year to move more of her money into “mission aligned” investments, rather than into vehicles that seek only the highest monetary returns.

    In her 2025 essay, Scott seemed to urge people toward action, writing, “There are many ways to influence how we move through the world, and where we land.”

    ___

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • MacKenzie Scott’s college roommate once loaned her $1K. Now it’s the billionaire’s turn to invest

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    NEW YORK (AP) — MacKenzie Scott, one of the world’s wealthiest women and most influential philanthropists, is now known for her “no strings attached” surprise grantmaking. But, as a Princeton University sophomore, she learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of generosity.

    Facing the prospect of dropping out if she couldn’t come up with $1,000, Scott was crying when her roommate, Jeannie Tarkenton, found her and got her dad to loan Scott the money.

    “I would have given MacKenzie my left kidney,” Tarkenton told the Associated Press recently. “Like, that’s just what you do for friends.”

    Today, Scott’s net worth is around $34 billion, according to Forbes. In October, Scott wrote that Tarkenton’s act is among the many personal kindnesses she has considered as she has donated more than $19 billion of the wealth she amassed mostly through Amazon shares as part of her 2019 divorce from company founder Jeff Bezos. And when Tarkenton started Funding U, a lending company that offers last-gap, merit-based loans to low-income students without co-signers, Scott said she jumped at the chance to help.

    A quarter century passed between the end of their sophomore year and Funding U’s creation, a period when Tarkenton realized just how many more students were being pushed into her former roommate’s position by the rising cost of college. That Scott took an interest in her old friend’s mission to help economically disadvantaged students finance school is unsurprising. Her unusual gifts — which she rarely discusses or discloses outside of essays and a database on her website, Yield Giving — tend to focus on issues of equity, higher education and economic security.

    Jeannie Tarkenton poses for a photo Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

    But the revelation of Scott’s Funding U support offers a new glimpse into her investments. Scott wrote last year that she would invest in “mission-aligned ventures” led by “undercapitalized groups” that focus on “for-profit solutions” to the challenges that her philanthropy seeks to address. However, this is among the few confirmed publicly.

    “She’s looking for innovative ways to create opportunity for those that don’t have it,” said Marybeth Gasman, who runs Rutgers’ Center for Minority Serving Institutions and follows Scott’s donations. “I have to say, as somebody who went to school on a Pell Grant and who came from an extremely low-income family, that’s really meaningful.”

    Amplifying impact

    Scott, in many ways, resembled the exact students that Funding U seeks to serve. Tarkenton recalled the undergraduate Scott as a “hardworking student with very good grades” who was “highly focused” and had already been accepted into a competitive program.

    Her lending company plugs those sorts of details — student transcripts and internship experiences, for example— into an algorithm that determines the likelihood applicants will complete college, get a job and make enough money to pay back the loan.

    Tarkenton suggested that this formula is fairer — and more predictive — than existing criteria that determine loan eligibility based on the credit histories of students or their co-signers.

    Scott provides most of the “junior debt” they use to reduce the risk for larger investments from banks such as Goldman Sachs, according to Tarkenton. She is among a handful of philanthropists who provide 30 cents for every dollar that Funding U loans. These funders lend at concessionary rates, meaning they make less money back than the market suggests they should and wait a longer period of time to recoup the money.

    Funding U gets the other 70% from banks, who support them to comply with federal laws aimed at preventing anti-poor discrimination by requiring banks to make loans that benefit their communities.

    “I wanted to combine capital from people who were participating in this because they cared about the underlying person,” Tarkenton said, “and also, knowing that scale of philanthropy wasn’t quite big enough, bring to the table some sort of market solution alongside that capital.”

    Jeannie Tarkenton poses for a photo Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

    Jeannie Tarkenton poses for a photo Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

    A philanthropic endeavor?

    Tarkenton is clear: the endeavor isn’t philanthropic. Funding U is a company, after all, and Scott will eventually get her money back — just as she repaid Tarkenton’s informal loan all those years ago at Princeton.

    But the approach represents a model that Scott’s former roommate thinks more philanthropists should embrace. Tarkenton said there’s more space for the likes of Scott to “bring a spirit of investment” that serves a “greater good” but isn’t purely charitable.

    “I think philanthropists can get a little messier and do more with their money,” Tarkenton said. “I’m all about pushing philanthropists in a very aligned way.”

    It’s why she started Funding U. Working at an Atlanta-based adult literacy nonprofit, Tarkenton said she noticed persistent disparities in degree completion rates based on socioeconomic status. She found the problem too big for philanthropy to solve. But the need was too small for most market players to care about addressing, she said.

    Scott described the Funding U loans as “generosity- and gratitude-powered” in an Oct. 15 essay about the ripple effects of kindness.

    Panorama founder Gabrielle Fitzgerald, whose social impact nonprofit tracks Scott’s giving, said the investment is “very consistent with her approach to ensuring students have access to higher education.” She said many funders see impact investing as a critical part of their giving portfolios.

    “It shows that she’s using all the tools at her disposal to pursue her goals,” Fitzgerald said.

    And the full circle impact of Tarkenton’s college-era loan?

    “It’s a really lovely story in a time when we’re not seeing a lot of kindness and generosity,” Fitzgerald added. “And just a reminder that helping your fellow humans is both a good thing to do at the time and something that could have a massive impact down the road.”

    ___

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

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    NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job.

    Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.

    Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And the record 43-day government shutdown also left many to work without paychecks.

    The impasse put key economic data on hold, too. In a delayed report released Thursday, the Labor Department said U.S. employers added a surprising 119,000 jobs in September. But unemployment rose to 4.4% — and other troubling details emerged, including revisions showing the economy actually lost 4,000 jobs in August. There’s also growing gender and racial disparities. The National Women’s Law Center notes women only accounted for 21,000 of September’s added jobs — and that Black women over the age of 20, in particular, saw unemployment climb to 7.5% for the month.

    The shutdown has left holes in more recent hiring numbers. The government says it won’t release a full jobs report for October.

    Here are some of the largest job cuts announced recently:

    Verizon

    In November, Verizon began laying off more than 13,000 employees. In a staff memo announcing the cuts, CEO Dan Schulman said that the telecommunications giant needed to simplify operations and “reorient” the entire company.

    General Motors

    General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio in late October, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles. Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs” at the start of next year.

    Paramount

    In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount plans to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce. Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs in late October, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    In November, Paramount also announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions as part of divestitures of Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. And the company said another 600 employees had chosen voluntary severance packages as part of a coming push to return to the office full-time.

    Amazon

    Amazon said last month that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

    UPS

    United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs. UPS also closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.

    Target

    Target in October moved to eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally. The retailer said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts.

    Nestlé

    In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance amid headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years.

    Lufthansa Group

    In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

    Novo Nordisk

    Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce. The company — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring, as it works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

    ConocoPhillips

    Oil giant ConocoPhillips announced plans in September to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs. Between 2,600 and 3,250 workers were expected to be impacted, with most layoffs set to take place before the end of 2025.

    Intel

    Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business. In July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

    Microsoft

    In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years. The company has cited “organizational changes,” but the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

    Procter & Gamble

    In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce. The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures.

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  • Bubble fears ease but investors still waiting for AI to live up to its promise

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    Fears about the artificial intelligence boom turning into an overblown bubble have diminished for now, thanks to a stellar earnings report from Nvidia that illustrated why its indispensable chips transformed it into the world’s most valuable company.

    But that doesn’t mean the specter of an AI bubble won’t return in the months and years ahead as Big Tech gears up to spend trillions of dollars more on a technology the industry’s leaders believe will determine the winners and losers during the next wave of innovation.

    For now, at least, Nvidia has eased worries that the AI craze propelling the stock market and much of the economy for the past year is on the verge of a massive collapse.

    If anything, Nvidia’s quarterly report indicated that AI spending is picking up even more momentum. The highlights, released late Wednesday, included quarterly revenue of $57 billion, a 62% increase from the same time last year. That sales growth was an acceleration from the 56% increase in year-over-year revenue from the May-July quarter.

    What’s more, Nvidia forecast revenue of $65 billion for the current quarter covering November-January, which would be a 65% year-over-year increase.

    Given Nvidia’s forecasts, “it is very hard to see how this stock does not keep moving higher from here,” according to analysts at UBS led by Timothy Arcuri. The UBS analyst also said the “AI infrastructure tide is still rising so fast that all boats will be lifted.”

    Nvidia’s numbers are viewed through a window that extends far beyond the Santa Clara, California, company’s headquarters because its products are needed by a wide range of companies — including Big Tech peers like Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta Platforms — to build data centers that are becoming known as AI factories.

    “AI spending isn’t just holding up, it’s accelerating. That’s exactly what the market needed to see,” said Jake Behan, head of capital markets for investment firm Direxion.

    The numbers initially lifted Nvidia’s stock price by as much as 5% in Thursday’s trading, while other tech stocks tied to the AI spending frenzy also got a boost. But Nvidia’s shares and other tech stocks reversed course later in the session as investors found other issues besides AI, such as the government’s latest jobs report and the future direction of interest rates.

    Even with a 3% drop in its stock price amid the broader market decline, Nvidia remains valued at $4.4 trillion, more than 10 times its valuation three years ago when OpenAI released its ChatGPT chatbot, triggering the biggest technological shift since Apple released the iPhone in 2007.

    Nvidia’s rapid rise has turned its CEO Jensen Huang into the chief evangelist for the AI revolution and he sought to use his bully pulpit during a late Wednesday conference call with industry analysts to make a case that the spending to make technology with humanlike intelligence is just beginning.

    “There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our vantage point, we see something very different,” Huang insisted while celebrating “depth and breadth” of Nvidia’s growth.

    Huang is hardly a lone voice in the wilderness. A recent report from Gartner Inc. estimates that worldwide spending on AI will rise to more than $2 trillion next year, a 37% increase from the nearly $1.5 trillion that the research firm expects to be spent this year.

    But it remains to be seen if all that money pouring into AI will actually produce all the profits and productivity that proponents have been promising. That leaves the question unanswered if all the real spending that’s happening will be worth it.

    The most recent survey of global fund managers by Bank of America showed a record percentage of investors saying companies are “overinvesting.”

    Big Tech is already so profitable that many of the most successful finance their spending sprees with their ongoing stream of revenue and cash hoards in their bank accounts. But some companies, such as Meta Platforms and Oracle, are relying more heavily on debt to fund their AI ambitions — a strategy that has raised enough alarms among investors that their stock prices have plunged more dramatically than their peers in recent weeks.

    Both Meta and Oracle have suffered more than 20% declines in their stock prices since late October.

    But other Big Tech powerhouses leading the way in AI remain just behind Nvidia and iPhone maker Apple in the rankings of the most valuable companies. Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon boast market values currently ranging from $2.3 trillion to $3.6 trillion.

    “It is true that valuations are high and that there is some froth in the market, however, the spending on AI is real,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for money manager Northlight Asset Management. “Whether or not the spending turns out to be overdone won’t be known for many years.”

    —

    AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this story.

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  • Verizon is cutting more than 13,000 jobs as it works to ‘reorient’ entire company

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees in mass job reductions that arrive as the telecommunications giant says it must “reorient” its entire company.

    The job cuts began on Thursday, per to a staff memo from Verizon CEO Dan Schulman. In the letter, which was seen by The Associated Press, Schulman said Verizon’s current cost structure “limits” the company’s ability to invest — pointing particularly to customer experiences.

    “We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers,” Schulman wrote. He added that the company needed to simplify its operations “to address the complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers.”

    Verizon had nearly 100,000 full-time employees as of the end of last year, according to securities filings. A spokesperson confirmed that the layoffs announced Thursday account for about 20% of the company’s management workforce, which isn’t unionized.

    Verizon has faced rising competition in both the wireless phone and home internet space — particularly from AT&T, T-Mobile and other big market players. New leadership at the company has stressed the need to right the company’s direction.

    Schulman became CEO just last month. In the company’s most recent earnings, he stated that Verizon’s trajectory was at a “critical inflection point” — and said, rather than incremental changes, Verizon would “aggressively transform” its operations.

    For its third quarter of 2025, Verizon posted earnings of $4.95 billion and $33.82 billion in revenue. The carrier reported continued subscriber growth for its prepaid wireless services, but it lost a net 7,000 postpaid connections.

    News of coming layoffs at Verizon was reported last week by The Wall Street Journal. The outlet says that the 13,000 job cuts mark the largest-ever round of layoffs at the company.

    Beyond the cuts across Verizon’s workforce, Schulman said that the New York company would also “significantly reduce” its outsourced and other outside labor expenses.

    It’s a tough time for the job market overall — and Verizon isn’t the only company to announce sizeable workforce reductions recently. More and more layoffs have piled up at companies like Amazon, UPS, Nestlé and more.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or are redirecting money to artificial intelligence. Regardless, such cuts have raised worker anxieties across sectors.

    Schulman on Thursday recognized that “changes in technology and in the economy are impacting the workforce across all industries.” He said that Verizon had established a $20 million “Reskilling and Career Transition Fund” for workers departing the company.

    Shares of Verizon fell just over 1% by Thursday’s close.

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  • Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN Stock Holdings Raised by Banco Santander S.A.

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    Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,164,777 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after buying an additional 93,245 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises approximately 2.4% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $255,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

    Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 81.9% during the second quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

    Amazon.com Price Performance

    NASDAQ AMZN opened at $217.14 on Friday. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $161.38 and a one year high of $258.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $227.92 and a 200 day moving average of $221.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.29.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $180.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.53 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 23.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. Amazon.com has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

    Insider Activity at Amazon.com

    In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total transaction of $5,500,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 493,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,391,555.21. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $209,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,610. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 43,357 shares of company stock worth $10,607,215 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

    Analyst Ratings Changes

    A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMZN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $300.00 price objective on Amazon.com and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Arete lifted their price target on Amazon.com from $248.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $278.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.70.

    View Our Latest Analysis on Amazon.com

    Amazon.com Company Profile

    (Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.

    See Also

    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMZN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)



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  • Nvidia earnings clear lofty hurdle set by analysts amid fears about an AI bubble

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    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia’s sales of the computing chips powering the artificial intelligence craze surged beyond the lofty bar set by stock market analysts in a performance that may ease recent jitters about a Big Tech boom turning into a bust that topples the world’s most valuable company.

    The results announced late Wednesday provided a pulse check on the frenzied spending on AI technology that has been fueling both the stock market and much of the overall economy since OpenAI released its ChatGPT three years ago.

    Nvidia has been by far the biggest beneficiary of the run-up because its processors have become indispensable for building the AI factories that are needed to enable what’s supposed to be the most dramatic shift in technology since Apple released the iPhone in 2007.

    ARCHIVO – Varias personas miran los nuevos productos de Nvidia en la exhibición Computex 2025 en Taipéi, Taiwán, el miércoles 21 de mayo de 2025. (AP Foto/Chiang Ying-ying, Archivo)

    But in the past few weeks, there has been a rising tide of sentiment that the high expectations for AI may have become far too frothy, setting the stage for a jarring comedown that could be just as dramatic as the ascent that transformed Nvidia from a company worth less than $400 billion three years ago to one worth $4.5 trillion at the end of Wednesday’s trading.

    Nvidia’s report for its fiscal third quarter covering the August-October period elicited a sigh of relief among those fretting about a worst-case scenario and could help reverse the recent downturn in the stock market.

    “The market should belt out a heavy sigh, given the skittishness we have been experiencing,” said Sean O’Hara, president of the investment firm Pacer ETFs.

    The company’s stock price gained more than 5% in Wednesday’s extended trading after the numbers came out. If the shares trade similarly Thursday, it could result in a one-day gain of about $230 billion in stockholder wealth.

    Nvidia earned $31.9 billion, or $1.30 per share, a 65% increase from the same time last year, while revenue climbed 62% to $57 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had forecast earnings of $1.26 per share on revenue of $54.9 billion. What’s more, the Santa Clara, California, company predicted its revenue for the current quarter covering November-January will come in at about $65 billion, nearly $3 billion above analysts’ projections, in an indication that demand for its AI chips remains feverish.

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Friday, Oct.31, 2025 (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Friday, Oct.31, 2025 (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

    The incoming orders for Nvidia’s top-of-the-line Blackwell chip are “off the charts,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a prepared statement that described the current market conditions as “a virtuous cycle.” In a conference call, Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Collette Kress said that by the end of next year the company will have sold about $500 billion in chips designed for AI factories within a 24-month span Kress also predicts trillions of dollars more will be spent by the end of the 2020s.

    In a conference call preamble that has become like a State of the AI Market address, Huang seized the moment to push back against the skeptics who doubt his thesis that technology is at tipping point that will transform the world. “There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our vantage point, we see something very different,” Huang insisted while celebrating “depth and breadth” of Nvidia’s growth.

    The upbeat results, optimistic commentary and ensuring reaction reflects the pivotal role that Nvidia is playing in the future direction of the economy — a position that Huang has leveraged to forge close ties with President Donald Trump, even as the White House wages a trade war that has inhibited the company’s ability to sell its chips in China’s fertile market.

    Trump is increasingly counting on the tech sector and the development of artificial intelligence to deliver on his economic agenda. For all of Trump’s claims that his tariffs are generating new investments, much of that foreign capital is going to data centers for AI’s computing demands or the power facilities needed to run those data centers.

    “Saying this is the most important stock in the world is an understatement,” Jay Woods, chief market strategist of investment bank Freedom Capital Markets, said of Nvidia.

    The boom has been a boon for more than just Nvidia, which became the first company to eclipse a market value of $5 trillion a few weeks ago, before the recent bubble worries resulted in a more than 10% decline. As OpenAI and other Big Tech powerhouses snap up Nvidia’s chips to build their AI factories and invest in other services connected to the technology, their fortunes have also been soaring. Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon all boast market values in the $2 trillion to $4 trillion range.

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  • Microsoft partners with Anthropic and Nvidia in cloud infrastructure deal

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    Microsoft said Tuesday it is partnering with artificial intelligence company Anthropic and chipmaker Nvidia as part of an AI infrastructure deal that moves the software giant further away from its longtime alliance with OpenAI.

    Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude that competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, said it is committed to buying $30 billion in computing capacity from Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.

    As part of the partnership, Nvidia will also invest up to $10 billion in Anthropic, and Microsoft will invest up to $5 billion in the San Francisco-based startup.

    The joint announcements by CEOs Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and Jensen Huang of Nvidia came just ahead of the opening of Microsoft’s annual Ignite developer conference.

    “This is all about deepening our commitment to bringing the best infrastructure, model choice and applications to our customers,” Nadella said on a video call with the other two executives, adding that it builds on the “critical” partnership Microsoft still has with OpenAI.

    Microsoft was, until earlier this year, the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI and made the technology behind ChatGPT the foundation for its own AI assistant, Copilot. But the two companies moved farther apart and their business agreements were amended as OpenAI increasingly sought to secure its own cloud capacity through big deals with Oracle, SoftBank and other data center developers and chipmakers.

    Asked in September if OpenAI could do more with those new computing partnerships than it could with Microsoft, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told The Associated Press his company was “severely limited for the value we can offer to people.”

    At the same time, Microsoft holds a roughly 27% stake in the new for-profit corporation that OpenAI, founded as a nonprofit, is forming to advance its commercial ambitions as the world’s most valuable startup.

    Anthropic, founded by ex-OpenAI leaders in 2021, said Claude will now be the “only frontier model” available to customers of the three biggest cloud computing providers: Amazon, which remains Anthropic’s primary cloud provider, and Google and Microsoft.

    AI products like Claude, ChatGPT, Copilotand Google’s Gemini are reshaping how many people work but take huge amounts of energy and computing power to build and operate. Neither OpenAI nor Anthropic has yet reported turning a profit, amplifying concerns about an AI bubble if their products don’t meet investors’ high expectations and justify the expenditures. As part of the deal, Nvidia said Anthropic will have access to up to a gigawatt of capacity from its specialized AI chips.

    Huang said he’s “admired the work of Anthropic and Dario for a long time, and this is the first time we are going to deeply partner with Anthropic to accelerate Claude.”

    At Microsoft’s Ignite conference, a showcase of its latest AI technology which opened Tuesday in San Francisco, Anthropic’s chief product officer Mike Krieger highlighted the budding partnership during an on-stage appearance.

    “From the beginning, it has seemed there has been a lot of shared DNA between our companies,” said Krieger, who was also the co-founder of Instagram.

    ——

    AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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  • Google unveils Gemini’s next generation, aiming to turn its search engine into a ‘thought partner’

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    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is unleashing its Gemini 3 artificial intelligence model on its dominant search engine and other popular online services in the high-stakes battle to create technology that people can trust to enlighten them and manage tedious tasks.

    The next-generation model unveiled Tuesday comes nearly two years after Google took the wraps off its first iteration of the technology. Google designed Gemini in response to a competitive threat posed by OpenAI’s ChatGPT that came out in late 2022, triggering the biggest technological shift since Apple released the iPhone in 2007.

    Google’s latest AI features initially will be rolled out to Gemini Pro and Ultra subscribers in the United States before coming to a wider, global audience. Gemini 3’s advances include a new AI “thinking” feature within Google’s search engine that company executives believe will become an indispensable tool that will help make people more productive and creative.

    “We like to think this will help anyone bring any idea to life,” Koray Kavukcuoglu, a Google executive overseeing Gemini’s technology, told reporters.

    As AI models have become increasingly sophisticated, the advances have raised worries that the technology is more prone to behave in ways that jumble people’s feelings and thoughts while feeding them misleading information and fawning flattery. In some of the most egregious interactions, AI chatbots have faced accusations of becoming suicide coaches for emotionally vulnerable teenagers.

    The various problems have spurred a flurry of negligence lawsuits against the makers of AI chatbots, although none have targeted Gemini yet.

    Google executives believe they have built in guardrails that will prevent Gemini 3 from hallucinating or be deployed for sinister purposes such as hacking into websites and computing devices.

    Gemini 3 ‘s responses are designed to be “smart, concise and direct, trading cliche and flatter for insight — telling you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. It acts as a true thought partner,” Kavukcuoglu and Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s DeepMind division, wrote in a blog post.

    Besides providing consumers with more AI tools, Gemini 3 is also likely to be scrutinized as a barometer that investors may use to get a better sense about whether the massive torrent of spending on the technology will pay off.

    After starting the year expecting to spend $75 billion, Google’s corporate parent Alphabet recently raised its capital expenditure budget from $91 billion to $93 billion, with most of the money earmarked for AI. Other Big Tech powerhouses such as Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta Platforms are spending nearly as much — or even more — on their AI initiatives this year.

    Investors so far have been mostly enthusiastic about the AI spending and the breakthroughs they have spawned, helping propel the values of Alphabet and its peers to new highs. Alphabet’s market value is now hovering around $3.4 trillion, more than doubling in value since the initial version of Gemini came out in late 2023. Alphabet’s shares edged up slightly Tuesday after the Gemni 3 news came out.

    But the sky-high values also have amplified fears of a potential investment bubble that will eventually burst and drag down the entire stock market.

    For now, AI technology is speeding ahead.

    OpenAI released its fifth generation of the AI technology powering ChatGPT in August, around the same time the next version of Claude came out from Anthropic.

    Like Gemini, both ChatGPT and Claude are capable of responding rapidly to conversational questions involving complex topics — a skill that has turned them into the equivalent of “answer engines” that could lessen people’s dependence on Google search.

    Google quickly countered that threat by implanting Gemini’s technology into its search engine to begin creating detailed summaries called “AI Overviews” in 2023, and then introducing an even more conversational search tool called “AI mode” earlier this year.

    Those innovations have prompted Google to de-emphasize the rankings of relevant websites in its search results — a shift that online publishers have complained is diminishing the visitor traffic that helps them finance their operations through digital ad sales.

    The changes have been mostly successful for Google so far, with AI Overviews now being used by more than 2 billion people every month, according to the company. The Gemini app, by comparison, has about 650 million monthly users.

    With the release of Gemini 3, the AI mode in Google’s search engine is also adding a new feature that will allow users to click on a “thinking” option in a tab that company executives promise will deliver even more in-depth answers than has been happening so far. Although the “thinking” choice in the search engine’s AI mode initially will only be offered to Gemini Pro and Ultra subscribers, the Mountain View, California, company plans to eventually make it available to all comers.

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  • Cash App’s Moneybot might know your spending habits better than you do

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine if your bank could move money for you with only the slightest of digital nods for your approval. Or that could tell you that you’re overspending but more importantly know how to address that overspending and put you on better financial footing.

    That’s what you’ll get with Moneybot, a new financial services chatbot shown off this week by Cash App that will be slowly introduced into its banking app this winter. Unlike existing bank chatbots, which can handle routine tasks like changing an address, Moneybot can take advanced actions for a customer like creating a savings plan, buying or selling stock, or even evaluating a customer’s spending habits.

    Moneybot is part of the next generation of chatbots using what the tech industry calls “agentic” AI, which turns tools like ChatGPT into an “AI agent” that can take action online on a person’s behalf. That means, instead of just writing text, answering questions or recommending products found online, an “agentic” chatbot could also buy a product.

    Amazon now has Rufus to go with Alexa, which both either provide information on products or can buy things on customers’ behalf. Walmart is rolling out “Chat & Buy” and Microsoft has Copilot Shopping.

    Agentic AI, for being so new, is already causing some controversy. Amazon is suing an AI chatbot company, Perplexity, for alleged computer fraud over AI shopping agents that Amazon says are disguising themselves as human buyers to access customer accounts without Amazon’s permission. Perplexity has denied the claims.

    Traditional banks have had chatbots for a while, notably Bank of America’s “Erica” or “Ask Amex” from American Express, but have hesitated to roll out agentic AI. They worry about possible liability if a chatbot buys a product by mistake for a customer or is maliciously used to buy things it is not supposed to.

    “Our top priority is to keep our customers’ and clients’ data safe above all else,” said Mark Birkhead, chief data officer at JPMorgan Chase, in an interview with the consulting firm McKinsey back in June on the issue of why the bank hasn’t rolled out agentic AI yet to customers.

    Cash App on the other hand is diving in head first.

    One notable feature of Moneybot is its prompts and suggestions. When Moneybot launches, it does an analysis of the the customer’s transactions and spending and gives them independent recommendations on actions they could take. Unlike other bank chatbots, which take you to other parts of a banks’ website, Moneybot’s transactions and analysis happen inside a single screen. Cash App’s executives see Moneybot becoming the primary way people interact with CashApp in the future.

    Want to know your biggest spending categories instantly and how to cut your spending? Moneybot gives several suggestions in a matter of seconds, showing you the merchants you spent with. Need to save $1,000 toward a vacation in six months? Moneybot creates an automated savings plan for you with only a couple of prompts.

    Want to put money into the stock market? It takes only a request and confirmation in Moneybot, which will buy Tesla stock for you or even bitcoin. Moneybot will remind you, however, that it does not give investing advice.

    Moneybot may even anticipate why the customer is opening up the app in the first place.

    “We have such a deep understanding of who you are that it’s almost a failure if we have to rely on customers to ask right questions,” said Owen Jennings, executive officer and business lead at Block, in an interview.

    Company officials pointed out that, despite having these agent abilities, Moneybot will still need active confirmation from the user to do its money-moving tasks. But that confirmation is often just a simple push of a button or a “yes” in a chat box.

    Cash App executives say Moneybot uses three different AI models, choosing the most appropriate one for the customer’s question. Some are easier to recognize, including the eager-to-please tone that often comes with ChatGPT 5.

    A Cash App employee demo’ing Moneybot, much to his chagrin, showed that he spent heavily at Nordstrom last month. Moneybot kindly suggested he might want to cut back on his clothing purchases if he needs to save money.

    There are things Moneybot cannot do because of the legal and privacy questions that have yet to be answered. Moneybot won’t offer you a loan but feels like it could do so if the toggle were ever turned on.

    Because of the way the prompts are written, Cash App employees acknowledged there could be privacy and legal implications with what Moneybot suggests if appropriate guardrails are not put into place.

    Policymakers have raised concerns about how these chatbots could steer customers into one product or another, even if one product may not be in the best interest for the customer. For instance, what’s to stop a future version of Moneybot from favoring a buy now, pay later loan from AfterPay — also owned by Cash App’s parent company Block — for purchases instead of Affirm or Klarna?

    “If firms cannot manage using a new technology in a lawful way, then they should not use the technology,” said Rohit Chopra in 2024, when he was director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra spent much of his tenure at the bureau raising concerns about the adoption of AI in financial services.

    In the meantime, asking for a loan inside Moneybot will transfer a customer to a human agent.

    Not surprisingly, Moneybot has the usual disclosure found at the bottom of most chatbots these days: Artificial intelligence can make mistakes. Somehow, that feels a bit more important in banking than an AI chatbot accidentally providing the wrong amount of cumin in a fajita recipe or buying the wrong size of shirt.

    __

    An earlier version of this story misspelled Moneybot.

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  • Anthropic, Microsoft announce new AI data center projects as industry’s construction push continues

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    Artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced a $50 billion investment in computing infrastructure on Wednesday that will include new data centers in Texas and New York.

    Microsoft also on Wednesday announced a new data center under construction in Atlanta, Georgia, describing it as connected to another in Wisconsin to form a “massive supercomputer” running on hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips to power AI technology.

    The latest deals show that the tech industry is moving forward on huge spending to build energy-hungry AI infrastructure, despite lingering financial concerns about a bubble, environmental considerations and the political effects of fast-rising electricity bills in the communities where the massive buildings are constructed.

    Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude, said it is working with London-based Fluidstack to build the new computing facilities to power its AI systems. It didn’t disclose their exact locations or what source of electricity they will need.

    Another company, cryptocurrency mining data center developer TeraWulf, has previously revealed it was working with Fluidstack on Google-backed data center projects in Texas and New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario. TeraWulf declined comment Wednesday.

    A report last month from TD Cowen said that the leading cloud computing providers leased a “staggering” amount of U.S. data center capacity in the third fiscal quarter of this year, amounting to more than 7.4 gigawatts of energy, more than all of last year combined.

    Oracle was securing the most capacity during that time, much of it supporting AI workloads for Anthropic’s chief rival OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. Google was second and Fluidstack came in third, ahead of Meta, Amazon, CoreWeave and Microsoft.

    Anthropic said its projects will create about 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs. It said in a statement that the “scale of this investment is necessary to meet the growing demand for Claude from hundreds of thousands of businesses while keeping our research at the frontier.”

    Microsoft has branded its two-story Atlanta data center as Fairwater 2 and said it will be connected across a “high-speed network” with the original Fairwater complex being built south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company said the facility’s densely packed Nvidia chips will help power Microsoft’s own AI technology, along with OpenAI’s and other AI developers.

    Microsoft was, until earlier this year, OpenAI’s exclusive cloud computing provider before the two companies amended their partnership. OpenAI has since announced more than $1 trillion in infrastructure obligations, much of it tied to its Stargate project with partners Oracle and SoftBank. Microsoft, in turn, spent nearly $35 billion in the July-September quarter on capital expenditures to support its AI and cloud demand, nearly half of that on computer chips.

    Anthropic has made its own computing partnerships with Amazon and, more recently, Google.

    The tech industry’s big spending on computing infrastructure for AI startups that aren’t yet profitable has fueled concerns about an AI investment bubble.

    Investors have closely watched a series of circular deals over recent months between AI developers and the companies building the costly chips and data centers needed to power their AI products. Anthropic said it will continue to “prioritize cost-effective, capital-efficient approaches” to scaling up its business.

    OpenAI had to backtrack last week after its chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, made comments at a tech conference suggesting the U.S. government could help in financing chips needed for data centers. The White House’s top AI official, David Sacks, responded on social media platform X that there “will be no federal bailout for AI” and if one of the leading companies fails, “others will take its place,” though he also added he didn’t think “anyone was actually asking for a bailout.”

    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later confirmed in a lengthy statement that “we do not have or want government guarantees” for the company’s data centers and also sought to address concerns about whether it will be able to pay for all the infrastructure it has signed up for.

    “We are looking at commitments of about $1.4 trillion over the next 8 years,” Altman wrote. “Obviously this requires continued revenue growth, and each doubling is a lot of work! But we are feeling good about our prospects there.”

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  • The Gaza War Has Been Big Business for U.S. Companies

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    Two years on, Israel’s war in Gaza might be finally drawing to a close. The conflict built an unprecedented arms pipeline from the U.S. to Israel that continues to flow, generating substantial business for big U.S. companies—including Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Caterpillar.

    Sales of U.S. weapons to Israel have surged since October 2023, with Washington approving more than $32 billion in armaments, ammunition and other equipment to the Israeli military over that time, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of State Department disclosures.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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  • Callahan Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Amazon.com, Inc. $AMZN

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    Callahan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 221,392 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the quarter. Amazon.com comprises about 4.4% of Callahan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Callahan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Amazon.com were worth $48,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

    A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Carderock Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Amazon.com in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Amazon.com during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Amazon.com by 81.9% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 211 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Capitol Family Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the first quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

    Amazon.com Price Performance

    Shares of NASDAQ:AMZN opened at $243.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.08 and a 200-day moving average of $217.89. Amazon.com, Inc. has a one year low of $161.38 and a one year high of $258.60.

    Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $180.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.53 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 23.84% and a net margin of 10.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Amazon.com has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

    Insider Activity

    In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 19,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.58, for a total transaction of $4,403,237.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,178,502 shares in the company, valued at $482,712,473.16. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew S. Garman sold 17,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.57, for a total transaction of $3,940,622.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,286.66. This trade represents a 85.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 128,084 shares of company stock worth $29,405,457. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

    Analyst Ratings Changes

    Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMZN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amazon.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird set a $285.00 target price on Amazon.com and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-four have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $293.17.

    View Our Latest Report on AMZN

    Amazon.com Profile

    (Free Report)

    Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.

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    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMZN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)



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  • OpenAI and Amazon sign $38 billion deal for AI computing power

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    SEATTLE (AP) — OpenAI and Amazon have signed a $38 billion deal that enables the ChatGPT maker to run its artificial intelligence systems on Amazon’s data centers in the U.S.

    OpenAI will be able to power its AI tools using “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia’s specialized AI chips through Amazon Web Services as part of the deal announced Monday.

    Amazon shares increased 4% after the announcement.

    The agreement comes less than a week after OpenAI altered its partnership with its longtime backer Microsoft, which until early this year was the startup’s exclusive cloud computing provider.

    California and Delaware regulators also last week allowed San Francisco-based OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit, to move forward on its plan to form a new business structure to more easily raise capital and make a profit.

    “The rapid advancement of AI technology has created unprecedented demand for computing power,” Amazon said in a statement Monday. It said OpenAI “will immediately start utilizing AWS compute as part of this partnership, with all capacity targeted to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the ability to expand further into 2027 and beyond.”

    AI requires huge amounts of energy and computing power and OpenAI has long signaled that it needs more capacity, both to develop new AI systems and keep existing products like ChatGPT answering the questions of its hundreds of millions of users. It’s recently made more than $1 trillion worth of financial obligations in spending for AI infrastructure, including data center projects with Oracle and SoftBank and semiconductor supply deals with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom.

    Some of the deals have raised investor concerns about their “circular” nature, since OpenAI doesn’t make a profit and can’t yet afford to pay for the infrastructure that its cloud backers are providing on the expectations of future returns on their investments. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week dismissed doubters he says have aired “breathless concern” about the deals.

    “Revenue is growing steeply. We are taking a forward bet that it’s going to continue to grow,” Altman said on a podcast where he appeared with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

    Amazon is already the primary cloud provider to AI startup Anthropic, an OpenAI rival that makes the Claude chatbot.

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  • Federal Reserve cuts key rate yet Powell says future reductions are not locked in

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring, even as inflation stays elevated.

    But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also cautioned that further rate cuts weren’t guaranteed, citing the government shutdown’s interruption of economic reports and sharp divisions among 19 Fed officials who participate in the central bank’s interest-rate deliberations.

    Speaking to reporters after the Fed announced its rate decision, Powell said there were “strongly differing views about how to proceed in December” at its next meeting and a further reduction in the benchmark rate is not “a foregone conclusion — far from it.”

    The rate cut — a quarter of a point — brings the Fed’s key rate down to about 3.9%, from about 4.1%. The central bank had cranked its rate to roughly 5.3% in 2023 and 2024 to combat the biggest inflation spike in four decades before implementing three cuts last year. Lower rates could, over time, reduce borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards, as well as for business loans.

    The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without the economic signposts it typically relies on from the government, including monthly reports on jobs, inflation, and consumer spending, which have been suspended because of the government shutdown.

    Financial markets largely expected another rate reduction in December, and stock prices dropped after Powell’s comments, with the S&P 500 nearly unchanged and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing slightly lower.

    “Powell poured cold water on the idea that the Fed was on autopilot for a December cut,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities. “Instead, they’ll have to wait for economic data to confirm that a rate cut is actually needed.”

    Powell was asked about the impact of the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 and has interrupted the distribution of economic data. Powell said the Fed does have access to some data that give it “a picture of what’s going on.” He added that, “If there were a significant or material change in the economy, one way or another, I think we’d pick that up through this.”

    But the Fed chair did acknowledge that the limited data could cause officials to proceed more cautiously heading into its next meeting in mid-December.

    “There’s a possibility that it would make sense to be more cautious about moving (on rates). I’m not committing to that, I’m just saying it’s certainly a possibility that you would say ‘we really can’t see, so let’s slow down.’”

    The Fed typically raises its short term rate to combat inflation, while it cuts rates to encourage borrowing and spending and shore up hiring. Right now it sees risks of both slowing hiring and rising inflation, so it is reducing borrowing costs to support the job market, while still keeping rates high enough to avoid stimulating the economy so much that it worsens inflation.

    Yet Powell suggested the Fed increasingly sees inflation as less of a threat. He noted that excluding the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, inflation is “not so far from our 2% goal.” Inflation has slowed in apartment rents and for many services, such as car insurance. A report released last week showed that inflation remains elevated but isn’t accelerating.

    The government recalled employees to produce the report, despite the shutdown, because it was used to calculate the cost of living adjustment for Social Security.

    At the same time, the economy could be rebounding from a sluggish first half, which could improve job growth in the coming months, Powell said. That would make rate cuts less necessary.

    “For some part of the committee, it’s time to maybe take a step back and see if whether there really are downside risks to the labor market,” Powell said. “Or see whether in fact that the stronger growth that we’re seeing is real.”

    Two of the 12 officials who vote on the Fed’s rate decisions dissented Wednesday, but in different directions. Jeffrey Schmid, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, voted against the move because he preferred no change to the Fed’s rate. Schmid has previously expressed concern that inflation remains too high.

    Fed governor Stephen Miran dissented for the second straight meeting in favor of a half-point cut. Miran was appointed by President Donald Trump just before the central bank’s last meeting in September.

    Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell for not reducing borrowing costs more quickly. In South Korea early Wednesday he repeated his criticisms of the Fed chair.

    “He’s out of there in another couple of months,” Trump said. Powell’s term ends in May. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the administration is considering five people to replace Powell, and will decide by the end of this year.

    The Fed also said Wednesday that it would stop reducing the size of its massive securities holdings, which it accumulated during the pandemic and after the 2008-2009 Great Recession. The change, to take effect Dec. 1, could over time slightly reduce longer-term interest rates on things like mortgages but won’t have much overall impact on consumer borrowing costs.

    Without government data, the economy is harder to track, Powell said. September’s jobs report, scheduled to be released three weeks ago, is still postponed. This month’s hiring figures, to be released Nov. 7, will likely be delayed and may be less comprehensive when finally released. And the White House said last week that October’s inflation report may never be issued at all.

    Before the government shutdown cut off the flow of data, monthly hiring gains had weakened to an average of just 29,000 a month for the previous three months, according to the Labor Department’s data. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July.

    More recently, several large corporations have announced sweeping layoffs, including UPS, Amazon, and Target, which threatens to boost the unemployment rate if it continues. Powell said the Fed is watching the layoff announcements “very carefully.”

    ___

    Associated Press Writer Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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  • Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

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    NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time for the job market.

    Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, some sizeable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.

    Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And many workers are now going without pay as the U.S. government shutdown nears its fourth week.

    “A lot of people are looking around, scanning the job environment, scanning the opportunities that are available to them — whether it’s in the public or private sector,” said Jason Schloetzer, professor business administration at Georgetown University’s McDonough School. “And I think there’s a question mark around the long-term stability everywhere.”

    Government hiring data is on hold during the shutdown, but earlier this month a survey by payroll company ADP showed that the private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September.

    Here are some companies that have moved to cut jobs recently.

    General Motors

    General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio on Wednesday, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles.

    Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs.” And GM has recently moved to downsize other parts of its workforce, too — including 200 layoffs mostly impacting engineers in Detroit, and other 300 job cuts at a Georgia IT Innovation Center, which it is also shuttering.

    Paramount

    In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount is going to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce.

    Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The rest of the cuts will be made at a later date.

    Amazon

    Amazon will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as the online retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence.

    Amazon said Tuesday that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

    CEO Andy Jassy previously said he anticipated generative AI would reduce Amazon’s corporate workforce in the coming years. And he has worked to aggressively cut costs overall since 2021.

    UPS

    United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs.

    In a Tuesday regulatory filing, UPS said it’s cut about 34,000 operational positions — and the company announced another 14,000 role reductions, mostly within management. Combined, that’s much higher than the roughly 20,000 cuts UPS forecast earlier this year.

    Target

    Last week, Target that it would eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally.

    Target said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts — with Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke noting that “too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions.” The retailer is also looking to rebuild its customer base. Target reported flat or declining comparable sales in nine of the past eleven quarters.

    Nestlé

    In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance.

    The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years. The cuts arrive as Nestlé and others face headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The company announced price hikes over the summer to offset higher coffee and cocoa costs.

    Lufthansa Group

    In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

    Most of the lost jobs would be in Germany, and the focus would be on administrative rather than operational roles, the company said. The layoff plans arrived even as the company reported strong demand for air travel and predicted stronger profits in years ahead.

    Novo Nordisk

    Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce.

    Novo Nordisk — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring as the company works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

    ConocoPhillips

    Oil giant ConocoPhillips has said it plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs.

    A spokesperson for ConocoPhillips confirmed the layoffs on Sept. 3, noting that 20% to 25% of the company’s employees and contractors would be impacted worldwide. At the time, ConocoPhillips had a total headcount of about 13,000 — or between 2,600 and 3,250 workers. Most reductions were expected to take place before the end of 2025.

    Intel

    Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business as it lags behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

    In a July memo to employees, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

    Microsoft

    In May, Microsoft began began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years.

    The latest job cuts hit Microsoft’s Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company has cited “organizational changes,” with many executives characterizing the layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers. But the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

    Procter & Gamble

    In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce.

    The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures. In July, P&G said it would hike prices on about a quarter of its products due to the newly-imposed import taxes, although it’s since said it expects to take less of a hit than previously anticipated for the 2026 fiscal year.

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