Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

The Nasdaq closed 2.8% higher on Thursday as Microsoft's Q4 blowout answered the AI-capex sceptics and dragged the entire cloud complex with it. After the bell, Amazon delivered another AWS acceleration while Apple's soft guidance sent the stock into an ugly after-hours print. PCE inflation cooled, Q2 GDP slowed, and the Fed sat still.

Amazon shares jumped more than 12% before the bell on Friday after the e-commerce and cloud giant posted its strongest cloud growth in over ‌four years, bolstering investor confidence that its multibillion-dollar AI bets are driving a ‌fresh wave of demand. The rally put Amazon on track to add about $300 billion in market value, as investors looked past ​a 10% increase in planned capital expenditure to $220 billion and instead focused on booming demand at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the profit engine at the center of the company's AI push. The reaction was in sharp contrast to Alphabet's earnings last week, when the Google-parent's shares stumbled after it reported its ‌first negative cash flow, which stemmed ⁠from rising AI-related spending.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for SPY remained 'bearish,' and improved to 'neutral' on QQQ as investors warmed to the latest AI-driven earnings.

The gains in U.S. chip stocks on Thursday and Friday mark a dramatic reversal of the selloff this month.

The tech rebound has legs. Stock futures were rising early Friday as the technology sector looked set to end a bad July on a positive note despite disappointing earnings from Apple. S&P 500 futures rose 0.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares surged over 12% in Friday’s pre-market trading after the e-commerce and cloud-computing giant reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. Amazon Beats Revenue and Earnings Estimates Amazon reported second-quarter revenue of $200.61 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $196.46 billion. The company posted earnings of $5.75 per share, well above analysts’ expectations of $1.82 per share. Amazon’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services

STORY: :: ArchiveWhat if your next driverless taxi had no steering wheel? That may soon become a reality.Amazon-owned Zoox has won the first U.S. approval for commercial deployment of a robotaxi built without traditional human controls.The approval came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA...allowing the company to begin charging for rides in Las Vegas once it completes state requirements.Here's NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison."Since our standards get into performance requirements for specific aspects such as braking performance, they provided information and we received public comment, and we made that determination that their vehicle as equipped, can meet all of those requirements and in fact, exceed those."The vehicle looks very different from a conventional car.It's an electric, carriage-style robotaxi with two rows of inward-facing seats and a top speed of 75 miles per hour.Federal officials say Zoox can deploy up to 2,500 vehicles in each of the next two years.The move comes as companies including Alphabet's Waymo and Elon Musk's Tesla race to expand driverless ride-hailing services across the U.S.The green light comes with added oversight.U.S. regulators say the firm must report issues including crashes and inappropriate stops.Authorities also retain the power to revoke the exemption if major safety concerns emerge.