Cloud computing

Citi

2026-08-03 02:03:42

Citi says cloud giants are monetizing AI faster than capex is rising

Citi said in a July 31 research note that second-quarter data from Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Oracle is challenging a market narrative that heavy AI infrastructure spending would crush profit margins. The four cloud vendors posted a combined $103.8 billion in quarterly revenue, up 50% year over year, accelerating from 41% in the prior quarter. According to the note, revenue growth is now outpacing the rise in capital expenditures, suggesting that AI investment has moved beyond a pure cash-burn phase. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43%, AWS to 37%, Google Cloud to 82%, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to 92%. Citi also highlighted improving monetization metrics, including AWS AI annualized revenue rising from $15 billion to $25 billion in one quarter and Google reporting token usage growth of 37.5% quarter over quarter to 22 billion per minute. The bank kept Buy ratings on Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Oracle, with price targets of $600, $350, $447 and $330, respectively. Citi argued that operating leverage is helping offset pressure from depreciation and expansion, while growing backlog at AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft points to sustained AI demand and stronger revenue visibility in coming quarters.

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Iran

2026-08-02 11:07:42

Iran says Amazon data center in Bahrain is on its target list in response to U.S. action

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Aug. 2 that an Amazon data processing center in Bahrain had been designated as a target during its presentation of the "Victory-2" operation. The spokesperson said the facility was selected because it allegedly provides intelligence support, cloud computing capacity, and services tied to the U.S. military command system. No timing for any strike was given. The spokesperson only said the move was one part of Iran’s response to U.S. attack operations. The report was cited by BlockBeats and attributed to China Central Television.

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Amazon

2026-08-02 06:46:18

Amazon completes its $50 billion OpenAI investment early, securing about a 5% stake

Amazon has fully funded its $50 billion commitment to OpenAI and received roughly a 5% equity stake, implying a valuation of about $852 billion. The unusual part is timing: $35 billion of the commitment had originally been tied to conditions such as an IPO or a technical breakthrough, yet Amazon paid the full amount even though neither milestone has been met. The move came after OpenAI and Microsoft rewrote their agreement on April 27, loosening earlier exclusivity around API hosting and cloud access. Following that change, Amazon expanded an AWS deal from $38 billion to $100 billion over eight years and became the exclusive external cloud provider for OpenAI’s Frontier platform. The agreement also includes up to 2 gigawatts of Trainium compute capacity, covering Trainium3 and the planned Trainium4. Amazon is also backing Anthropic, with commitments there reaching as much as $33 billion and actual investment at $18 billion so far, showing how large its AI infrastructure bet has become.

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Microsoft

2026-07-31 07:02:41

Citi lifts Microsoft target to $600 after Azure growth hits 43% and Copilot seats top 30 million

Microsoft’s latest quarterly results pushed back against a bearish view that had centered on the cost side of AI investment, according to a July 30 note from Citi. The bank raised its price target on Microsoft to $600 from $570 and kept its Buy rating after the company reported revenue and profit ahead of expectations, with both Azure and Copilot showing faster momentum. Citi said Azure revenue growth reached 43% year over year in the quarter, above the market’s 40% expectation and up from 39% in the prior quarter. Management then guided to roughly 45% Azure growth in the next quarter. Citi raised its FY27 Azure growth forecast by about 3 percentage points to 45.5%, arguing the acceleration came from better deployment efficiency and improved fleet utilization rather than a change in capacity allocation. On the software side, Microsoft said paid Copilot seats surpassed 30 million, above Citi’s 28 million estimate, with net additions of 10 million in the quarter. Citi linked that jump to strong year-end sales execution and broader customer adoption supported by discounts for large deployments. The note said the market had mostly focused on capital spending before, but is now starting to see AI monetization show up in revenue and earnings.

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Amazon

2026-07-30 21:21:42

Amazon CEO says AI and AWS spending shows strong return potential

According to a report cited by ChainCatcher and attributed to Jin10, Amazon CEO said the company can clearly see the prospect of strong financial returns from its spending on artificial intelligence and Amazon Web Services. The remark points directly to Amazon’s ongoing investment in AI and its cloud business, with the CEO framing those outlays as having visible return potential. No additional figures, timeline details, or business breakdowns were provided in the source text. The statement, as cited, focused on the financial outlook tied to spending in AI and AWS.

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Meta

2026-07-30 18:57:42

Meta says it has committed nearly $700 billion for AI data centers and cloud computing

Meta Platforms said it has committed nearly $700 billion in future spending through a mix of long-term and short-term agreements, according to a report cited by ChainCatcher via Jinshi. The company said the planned investment will go toward artificial intelligence data centers, cloud computing and related areas. The item was published by ChainCatcher under the technology category. No additional breakdown on timing, project structure or capital allocation was provided in the source text.

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Microsoft

2026-07-30 02:01:31

Microsoft’s Q4 beat puts Azure growth and AI spending returns back in focus

Microsoft posted a stronger-than-expected set of fourth-quarter results for fiscal 2026, easing part of the market’s anxiety around whether heavy artificial intelligence spending is producing acceptable returns. Revenue came in at $90 billion, up 18% year over year and ahead of the $87.73 billion consensus, while operating income rose 18% to $40.6 billion. Azure and other cloud services revenue increased 43%, beating both the company’s prior 39% to 40% guidance and a bullish 41% market view. The report also showed that Microsoft is still spending aggressively. Total capital expenditure reached $41 billion in the quarter, up about 69.4% from a year earlier and 28.5% from the prior quarter. Even so, operating cash flow climbed 30% to $55.4 billion, and free cash flow remained positive at $19.6 billion. Management said Azure growth was helped by new capacity coming online, 31 new data centers activated during the quarter, and better efficiency across chips, servers, software scheduling and models. For fiscal 2027 first quarter guidance, Microsoft expects revenue of $89.85 billion to $90.95 billion and Azure growth of about 45% at constant currency, above optimistic market expectations. The company also said AI monetization is now coming not only from Azure, but also from Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub, Security and Business Applications.

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Microsoft

2026-07-29 21:07:59

Microsoft Q4 revenue tops expectations at $90 billion as Azure posts $39.3 billion for the quarter

Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth fiscal quarter, with investors closely watching whether the company’s heavy spending on data centers is translating into returns. The company posted earnings per share of $4.81, above both $3.65 a year earlier and Wall Street’s $4.24 estimate. Revenue reached $90 billion, beating the expected $87.6 billion and rising 18% from a year earlier. Azure remained one of the key metrics in focus, given its role as a readout on broader AI demand. CEO Satya Nadella said Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time, while paid seats for Microsoft 365 Copilot exceeded 30 million. For the fourth quarter alone, Azure cloud revenue came in at $39.3 billion, with growth of 43%, above the expected 40%. Following the earnings release, Microsoft shares rose as much as 4% in after-hours trading. Even so, the stock is still down about 18% so far this year.

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