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Amazon’s AI Bets and Cost-Cutting Measures Pay Off, Boosting Stock by 5%

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 1, 2024

Shares of Amazon surged over 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Amazon announced earnings per share of $1.43, alongside revenue reaching $158.9 billion, surpassing analyst projections of $1.14 per share and $157.2 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Key Financial Highlights

North American Sales: Amazon’s North American segment recorded a 9% year-over-year sales increase, totalling $95.5 billion.
AWS Growth: Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud unit, posted $27.5 billion in revenue, marking a 19% rise compared to the same period last year.
Stock Movement: Although Amazon’s stock initially fell over 3% on Thursday before earnings were released, it rebounded significantly in after-hours trading. So far, Amazon shares are up almost 24% year-to-date.

Background on Amazon’s Strategy

Amazon’s recent efforts include major cost-cutting moves, guided by CEO Andy Jassy, to streamline operations since 2022. This restructuring has led to over 27,000 layoffs and the closure of initiatives such as Amazon’s telehealth and same-day delivery services. Despite these reductions, Amazon is doubling down on other key areas, like a $52 billion investment in nuclear energy to support data centers in Virginia, Mississippi, and Ohio. The company is also moving forward with **Project Kuiper**, aiming to build a satellite network of 3,236 units to broaden internet access worldwide—a venture projected to involve over $10 billion in launch costs across five years, according to analysts from Wedbush Securities.

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Amazon’s Market Reach

July’s Prime Day achieved “record-breaking sales,” while the introduction of Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, **Rufus** was rolled out to U.S. customers last month. Notably, Amazon had slightly missed expectations in the previous quarter and cautioned that intense news cycles could distract customers—a factor cited by CFO Brian Olsavsky during the second-quarter earnings call. Despite these challenges, the company’s annual revenue is expected to remain strong.

Noteworthy Figures

Amazon’s market capitalization has reached $1.96 trillion, making it the fifth-largest company globally, trailing behind Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, who served as Amazon’s CEO until 2021, holds a net worth of $204.1 billion, much of which is tied to Amazon’s stock. Market fluctuations ahead of Amazon’s earnings report momentarily decreased Bezos’ wealth by around $6 billion. Bezos ranks as the second-richest American, after Elon Musk, on the Forbes 400 list.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

Cursor Expands To Mobile As AI Coding Agents Gain Ground

Cursor is expanding its AI coding platform to mobile devices with the launch of Cursor Mobile, allowing users to prompt coding agents directly from their smartphones.

Announced on Monday, the app builds on the Cursor 2.0 redesign introduced in October, which shifted the platform’s focus toward autonomous coding agents rather than a traditional code editor. Users can launch new agents or continue conversations started on desktop.

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A Mobile Interface For A Changing Workflow

The launch reflects a broader shift in AI-assisted software development. As coding agents become increasingly capable of handling implementation tasks, developers are spending less time navigating large codebases and more time reviewing, guiding and supervising AI-generated work.

That evolution also makes mobile devices a more practical interface. They are well suited to reviewing progress, sending prompts and managing ongoing workflows, even when the underlying development is taking place remotely.

Cursor is not alone in moving in that direction. Anthropic and OpenAI have also introduced mobile experiences for their coding products, signalling that competition is extending beyond model performance and editor integration to the overall developer workflow.

The Shift From Editing To Orchestration

For years, professional development tools were built around the assumption that developers would spend most of their time writing and editing code on desktop computers. AI coding agents are beginning to change that dynamic by taking on more of the implementation work, allowing developers to focus increasingly on directing, reviewing and refining outputs.

Anthropic’s Claude Code lead, Boris Cherny, recently described how dramatically his own workflow has changed.

“Most of my coding now is on my phone,” Cherny said. “I would have said ‘you’re crazy’ if you told me that six months ago, but yeah, here we are.”

Why The Mobile Bet Matters

Cursor’s latest release expands access to its AI coding agents beyond the desktop, reflecting broader changes in how developers interact with AI-powered tools. As coding increasingly involves prompting, reviewing and coordinating AI-generated work, mobile devices are becoming another way to stay connected to software projects throughout the development process.