Artificial intelligence (AI) has burst onto the scene in a big way over the past year or so. The forerunners of modern AI have been around since the 1950s, but recent algorithms have taken the technology to the next level. What sets generative AI apart from its predecessors is not only the ability to create completely new and unique content but also to streamline and automate processes, resulting in substantial productivity increases. The potential to save time and money is significant, setting off a mad rush to adopt this ground-breaking technology.
Outspoken JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has never shied away from bold proclamations. In his recent shareholder letter, the enigmatic chief executive said generative AI could be “as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years: Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing, and the internet, among others.”
While that might seem a little over the top, a similar chorus is growing among tech aficionados. Even the most conservative estimates suggest generative AI will impact the economy to the tune of $1 trillion or more over the next 10 years. Companies best positioned to ride these secular tailwinds will also reap the resulting windfall, which will ultimately benefit investors.
There will be plenty of stocks that will ultimately benefit from AI, but one I’m particularly excited about is Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Image source: Getty Images.
An industry leader — in more ways than one
It’s important to consider Amazon’s AI opportunity in the context of its overall business — which is considerable.
The company first rose to prominence thanks to its industry-leading e-commerce business. Amazon has long dominated this industry, accounting for roughly 38% of U.S. online retail sales in 2023, more than its next 15 largest rivals combined, according to data compiled by eMarketer. The company is expected to maintain its dominance in 2024.
Amazon has long used AI to maintain its edge over the competition. These use cases include product recommendations made to its customers, predicting and maintaining the correct inventory levels at its warehouses and distribution centers, using robots powered by AI to stock shelves and ship merchandise, and even determining the most efficient routes for its deliveries.
There’s also the company’s industry-leading cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS). While its dominance has faded in recent years in the face of stiff competition, AWS remained the top provider of cloud infrastructure services with 31% of the market to close out 2023, with Microsoft Azure at No. 2 and Alphabet‘s Google Cloud at No. 3, with 26% and 10% of the market respectively, according to research firm Canalys. AI is central to Amazon’s AWS cloud strategy (more on that in a moment).
Finally, there’s Amazon’s digital advertising business, with ads appearing on its e-commerce website, Prime Video and Freevee streaming offerings, game streaming platform Twitch, Amazon Music, and more. The company uses AI to better match ads with their target market. The strategy has been wildly successful, as advertising services was Amazon’s fastest-growing major business segment in 2023.
The big kahuna
Lest there be any doubt, it’s AWS that represents Amazon’s biggest opportunity in the AI space.
Its fully managed Bedrock service is the foundation of its AI offerings. Like its cloud rivals, Amazon offers a library of all the most in-demand foundational AI models, including those created by AI21 Labs, Cohere, Mistral AI, Meta Platforms, Stability AI, and Anthropic, among others.
Amazon has pinned its biggest hopes on Anthropic. Just last month, the company increased its stake in the AI start-up by $2.75 billion, bringing its total investment to $4 billion. Anthropic and its Claude 3 suite of AI models are considered the leading competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which attracted a $13 billion investment from Microsoft and arguably kicked off the AI gold rush.
In addition to the AI models offered by Bedrock, Amazon also offers Titan, a suite of pre-built large language models (LLMs) of its own creation, which can be tailored to suit a wide variety of AI-focused business needs.
Late last year, Amazon unveiled the latest versions of its custom AI processors, Trainium2 and Graviton4, which were designed for training and running AI models, respectively. The company is also expanding its collaboration with Nvidia, bringing its state-of-the-art GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip and B100 Tensor Core GPUs to AWS. The combination offers a broad cross-section of AI functionality at price points that will appeal to a wide range of cloud customers.
The company also launched Amazon Q, a generative AI-powered assistant that can be tailored to each respective business to automate and streamline processes, thereby saving time and money.
Given its broad suite of offerings and multifaceted approach to AI, there’s little doubt that Amazon will be one of the leading players in the field.
All that potential at a bargain
Despite its recent run, Amazon offers all that potential at a modest price tag. The stock is currently selling for roughly 2.7 times forward sales, a bargain compared to its seven-year average of 3.5 times sales.
This provides savvy investors with the opportunity to invest in a once-in-a-generation opportunity at a discount.
Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now?
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Danny Vena has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
