This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) stock has been an incredible wealth builder for early investors who held on for many years. Even though those days have passed, the company has many long-term growth drivers, and it still has incredible potential. Here's one reason it could soar over the next five years.
The shift to the cloud
While most Americans know Amazon because of its e-commerce marketplace, its greatest opportunities are in Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's cloud computing segment. AWS sales increased 17% year over year in the 2025 first quarter, and it was responsible for 63% of the company's total operating income.
Amazon is the largest cloud provider in the world, with 30% of the total market, ahead of Microsoft Azure's 21%, according to Statista. As the global leader, Amazon has an edge, and it's investing to keep that edge. It has developed a robust and competitive generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform that's accessible through AWS, and CEO Andy Jassy said that Amazon would spend more than $100 billion this year on AI. He constantly talks about how 85% of company information technology (IT) spend is still on the premises, but that it will flip to the cloud over the next 10 to 20 years. As the largest cloud provider, Amazon has the most to gain from that flip.
According to analytics company Gartner, cloud spend is expected to increase 21.5% this year. It anticipates that by 2027, 90% of companies will adopt what it calls a hybrid cloud approach.
With the largest platform and its massive assortment of services, Amazon is likely to capture a large percentage of that spend, reinforcing its dominant position and moat. As a result, its stock is likely to soar over the next five years and beyond.
This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
