Amazon Will Be First Trillion Dollar Stock, Says Forrester Analyst
Amazon shares jumped after hours Thursday, after the company trounced earnings expectations for the second quarter.
The e-commerce giant posted profit of $5.07 a shareーmore than double estimates and compared to just $0.40 a year ago.
Driving that growth was the company's cloud business, Amazon Web Services, which saw revenue surge almost 50 percent to more than $6.1 billion.
But while Amazon remains the clear leader in the space, Forrester Research retail analyst Sucharita Kodali pointed out that the company can't rest on its laurels.
"The question is, does cloud just get commoditized and does that ultimately bring prices down and compress margins," she said. "Companies like Microsoft and others are not going to simply stand by and let Amazon just completely dominate the market. You will see innovation in the space, you will likely see very, very competitive offers."
Still, Kodali said she expects Amazon to ultimately beat Apple in the race to $1 trillion. She said one of the things the company has going for it, is its ability to beat expectations in almost any business it decides to enter.
"They now have a physical fulfillment business that competes with FedEx and UPS," she said. "They have a media business that competes with everyone from Netflix to HBO and Disney. Then, of course, they have their marketing business that competes with Google, and the AWS business that's competitive with so many of the large technology giants that are out there."
Shares of Amazon were up almost 4 percent after the earnings report. The company closed the day with a market cap of $904 billion, just behind Apple which was worth $958 billion.
For more on this video, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/amazon-jumps-on-promise-of-more-growth).
Namita Dhallan, Chief Product Officer at Brightcove, joins Cheddar to discuss how artificial intelligence and machine learning are creating room for more personalization in video, and how these technologies are shaping the future of the video tech industry.
NASA indefinitely delayed a spacewalk to repair an ISS antenna, citing concerns about space debris. It was unclear if the warning from the space agency to astronauts aboard the ISS was related to the recent destruction of a non-functioning Russian satellite.
Jack Dorsey has officially stepped down as CEO of Twitter.
In a statement -- he says he is leaving because the company is ready to move on from its founders. Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer, R/GA joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the implications of the move.
Mike Proulx, VP and research director at Forrester, joined Cheddar to talk about what Jack Dorsey's departure from Twitter as CEO means for the social media platform. He noted that while Dorsey had been the face of the company, "he's been a part-time CEO" since also taking on the leadership position at Square. Stepping down from leading Twitter allows his replacement Parag Agrawal, the former CTO, to be a dedicated leader of the company. However, Proulx noted that Agrawal faces headwinds on policy and political ramifications that will come with the job.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority blocked Facebook parent company Meta's acquisition of the image sharing platform Giphy, stating that the deal would harm UK advertisers and social media users. Meta responded and said that it is considering an appeal.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest developments with the Omicron variant that are spooking markets once again. Twitter's @Jack is leaving, SCOTUS takes up abortion rights and the world has a brand new republic.
