Amazon's cloud growth shines but holiday forecast disappoints Wall Street

Amazon's quarterly earnings report on Thursday presented a mixed financial picture, with strong cloud computing growth offset by a cautious holiday sales forecast and results that missed Wall Street expectations. The company's AWS cloud unit saw sales jump 39.3% in the quarter ending September 30, its fastest growth in nearly five years. However, shares fell over 6% in after-market trading as investors focused on the core business, which reported net income of $20.69 billion versus $21.19 billion a year ago. Amazon's cautious fourth-quarter outlook comes amid heavy spending on artificial intelligence, with capital expenditures now projected at $220 billion for the fiscal year. The company also plans to hire 300,000 seasonal workers, up from 250,000 last year.