Amazon survived a brutal 50% stock collapse, a CEO transition, and its first losing year in nearly a decade, then came roaring back with cloud growth nobody saw coming. Whether you bought in last year or ten years ago changes…
How an Online Store Became a Cloud and Ad Empire
A decade ago, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) was mostly an online store with a promising cloud side business. Over the decade that followed, AWS became the dominant profit engine, Prime grew alongside a huge logistics expansion, and advertising turned into a giant that brought in $19.8 billion in Q2 2026 alone, up 26%.
The pandemic sent e-commerce demand surging, and Andy Jassy succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO in July 2021. Then the bill came due. Amazon overbuilt its fulfillment network, posted its first unprofitable year since 2014 in 2022, and the stock fell roughly 50%.
AI Pushed AWS Back Into High Gear
Cost discipline under Jassy brought margins back, and AI demand revived cloud growth. AWS…