Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon’s cloud computing division<\/a>. It’s the No. 1 competitor by market share, with about 28% last quarter. In Q2, it accounted for 21% of the company’s total revenue, but 60% of its operating profits. That’s an incredible contribution from a small business unit, and with AWS growing rapidly, Amazon as a whole will benefit. <\/p>\n While the other two cloud computing titans — Alphabet’s Google Cloud (15% market share) and Microsoft Azure (20% market share) — reported faster growth than AWS, what investors must understand is that AWS’ growth rate is rapidly accelerating. In Q3 2025, AWS’ growth rate was 20%. In Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, its year-over-year growth accelerated to 24% and 28%, respectively. In Q2, the growth rate jumped further to 37%, and it likely isn’t done there. <\/p>\n Amazon is spending the most of any AI hyperscaler on computing infrastructure this year, with capital expenditures expected to total around $220 billion. All of that spending will eventually convert into increased computing capacity, which will in turn lead to increased revenue. A larger revenue base will allow Amazon to invest even more in data center infrastructure, creating a growth flywheel that should send Amazon stock soaring, as long as there is demand for compute. <\/p>\n Fortunately for Amazon shareholders, it’s pretty clear that there is. <\/p>\n During its Q2 conference call, CEO Andy Jassy noted that the company doesn’t have enough capacity to meet all available demand in 2026, and that 2027 is also shaping up to be that way. As a result, there’s already demand for capacity that it won’t have online until 2028. Having that type of visibility into sales growth that’s almost a year and a half out bulks up the Amazon investment thesis.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Amazon’s growth rate will remain strong over the next few years, driven by its robust cloud services offerings. As a result, I think Amazon is one of the best AI stocks to buy now and hold for the long term.<\/a> <\/p>\n Should you buy stock in Amazon right now? <\/p>\n Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: <\/p>\n The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Amazon wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. <\/p>\n Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation,\u00a0you’d have $400,209!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,375,393!* <\/p>\n Now, it’s worth noting\u00a0Stock Advisor’s total average return is 964% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 215% for the S&P 500.\u00a0Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with\u00a0Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. <\/p>\n See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a> <\/p>\n *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2026. <\/p>\n Keithen Drury<\/a> has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/a> Image source: The Motley Fool. Amazon Web Services is a top reason to own the stock <\/p>\n