AWS Outpaces Rival Cloud Platforms, Props Up Amazon’s Q2 Earnings Report

Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) performance was highlighted in the recent second quarter earnings report of parent firm Amazon. In fact, it seems that the retailer’s cloud computing unit held the fort for the entire group, becoming the leading contributor to the company’s profits.

While Amazon.com, Inc. missed its earnings estimates, AWS continued to dominate its niche, beating rivals Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud Platform, The Street reported. Its second quarter revenues rose by 42 percent from year-ago levels to an astounding $4.1 billion after introducing 400 new features and services and becoming the largest publicly held cloud computing provider in the process.

AWS managed to woo a number of big corporate clients in the last 12 months, which contributed to its massive revenue increase. These include BP PLC, Ancestry.com, and the California Polytechnic State University. In addition, AWS has already entered into an agreement to provide artificial intelligence and machine learning services with Capital One Financial Corp., the American Heart Association and U.S. space agency, NASA.

Meanwhile, parent firm Amazon’s second quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates despite AWS’ massive contribution. The online retailer also warned of possible negative earnings next quarter as the company continues to allocate massive investments to ensure its future growth.

“AWS continues to move forward on new products and win more significant enterprise business. That said, it – and public cloud more generally – is not the right answer for every organization at the moment,” was how Kate Hanaghan of IT analyst company TechMarketView explained the anticipated growth slowdown.

Despite that, Wall Street appears comfortable with Amazon’s strategy, as the company has always shown continued profitability. Amazon share prices have climbed  40 percent since the start of 2017.

[Featured Image by Robert Scoble/Flickr]