Amazon (AMZN) Price on Solana

Goldman Sachs added Amazon to its Conviction Buy list on Thursday, arguing the stock has "plenty more room to run" and is "ideally positioned to benefit from both structural and cyclical tailwinds impacting the broader Tech sector." The firm highlighted that Amazon has underperformed relative to peers and the broader market over the past year, making current levels an attractive entry point.

Goldman's addition to the Conviction Buy list — a curated roster of highest-conviction ideas — signals a stronger-than-usual endorsement beyond a standard buy rating. The call points to Amazon's positioning across cloud infrastructure, advertising, and AI as drivers of both durable growth and near-term re-rating potential.

Amazon is one of four big tech companies that received letters from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), joined by Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), asking what tax breaks they have claimed on AI and data center spending. The letters, sent to the CEOs of Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft on September 28, ask each company to itemize deductions tied to AI and data center investment under the 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and to describe any lobbying it did before the law passed. The senators want answers by October 12, CNBC and InvestmentNews reported.

For Amazon, which is spending heavily on AWS data centers, the provisions in question include permanent 100% bonus depreciation, which lets companies deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment in the year it goes into service, and retroactive expensing of research and development costs. The letters cite reporting that corporate tax payments are down 25% this year. The only company-specific figure in the coverage concerns Meta, whose federal income tax bill fell from $9.6 billion in 2024 to $2.8 billion in 2025. The reports did not give Amazon-specific deduction figures or include a response from Amazon.

Amazon has blocked Meta's new Muse personal AI agent from shopping on its site. Users who tried to buy through Muse got a message saying that access by an unauthorized AI agent violated Amazon's Conditions of Use. Amazon requires shopping agents to identify themselves on every request and to let brands opt out, and according to GeekWire it says Muse did neither. In a statement quoted by CNBC, Amazon said third-party apps that offer to buy things for customers "should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate." Amazon has also blocked agent tools from OpenAI and Google. It is suing Perplexity over its Comet browser agent, a case where the Ninth Circuit overturned a preliminary injunction in August.

Amazon's advertising business is a big part of why this matters. It brought in more than $68 billion last year, and that revenue depends on shoppers browsing Amazon's pages rather than having an outside agent complete the purchase. Amazon runs its own "Buy for Me" agent and says it meets the identification and opt-out rules. CEO Andy Jassy has said Amazon is in talks with companies that want to run commerce agents, though no deals appear close. Meta, meanwhile, named Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora and Wayfair as Muse partners at its Connect event. An Emarketer analyst told CNBC that Amazon is likely to become more protective of its role in the consumer journey as more shoppers use AI agents.

President Trump's July financial disclosure, filed September 22, revealed 1,156 securities transactions totaling between $79 million and $270 million for the month. Among the largest single transactions was a sale of between $5 million and $25 million in Amazon shares on July 20, alongside a similarly-sized Microsoft sale the same day. A small Amazon repurchase of between $1,001 and $15,000 followed days later. The White House has said independent advisers manage the accounts without Trump's input.

The disclosure draws fresh scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest: Trump has positioned himself as a champion of artificial intelligence infrastructure and data centers, an industry in which Amazon Web Services has committed tens of billions in capital expenditure. Critics note that policy decisions favorable to cloud and AI build-out directly benefit a portfolio that holds substantial Amazon stock, raising questions about the alignment of presidential policy with personal financial positions even under delegated management arrangements.

Amazon is among the major employers drawing scrutiny over AI-driven HR automation, with CNBC reporting that workers have expressed growing concerns about algorithmic management at the company. Amazon responded by dismissing a related survey as representing "a fraction of a workforce in the millions." The context is a broader shift in corporate governance: Brookings Institution researcher Darrell West is calling for companies to establish dedicated "robot relations" departments alongside traditional HR, tasked with managing employee interactions with AI systems, addressing algorithmic bias in hiring and discipline, and determining which workflows get automated.

The concept gained urgency amid a wave of employer AI deployments. Meta is facing a lawsuit alleging its AI systems ranked employees for layoffs in ways that disproportionately affected workers on medical or family leave, while Walmart shareholders voted down a transparency proposal on automation impacts. As one of the world's largest operators of warehouse robotics—and an active developer of AI logistics and fulfillment systems—Amazon sits at the center of this debate. University of Twente researcher Cristina Zaga argues that robot relations functions should give workers genuine input into automation governance, not merely help them adapt to decisions already made.

Generac Holdings has announced a long-term supply agreement with Amazon to provide industrial backup generators for Amazon's global data centers, with total potential purchases reaching $8 billion. Initial deliveries are valued at approximately $2.4 billion and are scheduled for 2027–2028. The deal also includes purchase-linked warrants giving Amazon the right to buy Generac shares, aligning both companies' interests around the supply relationship.

The arrangement reflects Amazon's push to lock in power resilience infrastructure ahead of continued expansion in AI and cloud computing. Analysts note the deal does not materially alter the near-term AWS growth thesis or the existing concern around rising capital intensity and debt-funded infrastructure build-out, but it reinforces that reliable power supply has become a strategic procurement priority as hyperscaler data center demand accelerates.

Amazon is pursuing an internal initiative called Project Mercury that would grow its same-day fulfillment network from roughly 85 centers today to more than 1,000 by 2031—a more than tenfold increase in five years. The smaller facilities are designed to sit within a 10-mile radius of 80% of US Prime subscribers and stock around 90,000 popular items including groceries, household supplies, and medicines, positioning Amazon in direct competition with Walmart's retail footprint.

The company has allocated $6.8 billion for US same-day fulfillment capacity in 2026 and 2027, with projected economic returns of $7.1 billion over a decade. Alongside the main facility buildout, Amazon is developing 100,000-square-foot "Orbital" facilities capable of processing approximately 75,000 same-day and perishable items daily. The expansion also extends internationally, with same-day delivery launching in 20 new European locations over the next 12 months on top of its existing 135 European sites.

Amazon reported Q2 2026 revenue growth of 20%, its fastest pace in five years, with operating income jumping 43% to $27.5 billion. AWS led the way with 37% revenue growth to $42.2 billion — its best rate since 2021 — fueled by surging enterprise AI demand, while advertising accelerated to 26% growth, the strongest since 2023. North American e-commerce rose 16% to $116.2 billion, partly aided by a Prime Day calendar shift that contributed roughly 400 basis points to overall growth.

Despite the blowout quarter, Amazon stock gave back most of its initial 15% post-earnings pop as rising interest rates weighed on the broader market. Management guided Q3 revenue growth at 9%–12%, or 13%–16% when adjusted for the Prime Day timing shift. The company is also projecting roughly $200 billion in capital expenditures, weighted heavily toward data center build-out for AI workloads. Analysts note that at normalized valuations — accounting for unrealized gains on Amazon's Anthropic stake — the stock trades in line with the S&P 500, and characterize it as a clear beneficiary of AI-driven cloud infrastructure demand.