Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the signing of an agreement with Dominion Energy, the utility company of Virginia U.S., to explore the development of a small modular nuclear reactor near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station.
As Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, AWS has an ever-growing demand for clean energy, particularly as it expands into generative AI. This agreement aligns with Amazon’s journey towards net-zero carbon emissions.
Amazon joins other major tech companies like Google and Microsoft in turning to nuclear power to meet the increasing energy needs of data centres.
Microsoft reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q4
In extended trading on 30th July 2024, the stock experienced a quick decline as attention was drawn to the less-than-expected Azure revenue, despite management’s forecast for growth in the upcoming quarters.
The company’s total revenue saw a 15% increase compared to the previous year.
Despite surpassing earnings and revenue expectations, Microsoft’s shares dropped by up to 7% in extended trading on Tuesday, with investors concentrating on the underwhelming cloud revenue. However, executives offered a positive outlook, anticipating an acceleration in cloud growth during the first half of 2025.
Microsoft one day chart 30th July 2024
Microsoft one day chart 30th July 2024
Microsoft’s cloud division holds significant interest for investors, as it competes with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google in the artificial intelligence (AI) work arena. These three tech giants are pouring substantial resources into enhancing AI capabilities, aiming to attract both startups and established companies as generative AI technology swiftly progresses.
For Amazon, AWS has served as a vital profit centre for the past ten years.
Amazon’s Q1 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations, emphasised by the expansion of its advertising and cloud computing sectors.
Earnings per share: 98 cents vs. 83 cents expected
Revenue: $143.3 billion vs. $142.5 billion expected
The operating income surged over 200% to $15.3 billion in the period, significantly exceeding revenue growth, indicating that the company’s cost-reduction strategies and efficiency improvements are enhancing its financial performance.
AWS contributed to 62% of the total operating profit. The net income also saw a more than threefold increase to $10.4 billion, or 98 cents per share, up from $3.17 billion, or 31 cents per share, in the previous year. There was a 13% rise in sales from $127.4 billion the previous year.
One year Amazon chart May 2023 – April 2024
One year Amazon chart May 2023 – April 2024
Amazon expects a continued rise in profitability for the Q2, albeit at a more consistent pace. The company projects its operating income to range from $10 billion to $14 billion, marking an increase from the previous year’s $7.7 billion.
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced Trainium2, a chip for training artificial intelligence (AI) models, and it will also offer access to Nvidia’s next-generation H200 Tensor Core graphics processing units.
Amazon’s AWS cloud department of the encompassing Amazon empire has announced new chips for customers to build and run artificial intelligence (AI) applications on, as well as plans to offer access to Nvidia’s latest chips.
Amazon Web Services is attempting to stand out as a cloud provider with a variety of cost-effective options. It won’t just sell cheap Amazon-branded products, though. Just as in its online retail marketplace, Amazon’s cloud will feature top-of-the-line products from other vendors, including highly sought after GPUs from top AI chipmaker Nvidia
Amazon’s dual-pronged approach of both building its own chips and letting customers access Nvidia’s latest chips might will help it against its top cloud computing competitor, Microsoft.
