The Rise of Social "Interaction" Networks

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has had four stock splits since its initial public offering in 1997, with its most recent one occurring in June 2022 in a 20-to-one split.

The company has enjoyed immense success over the years by leading two crucial sectors: e-commerce and cloud computing. Online retail on its own is expected to top $3 trillion in 2023 and expand at a CAGR of 10% until at least 2028. Meanwhile, Amazon dominates the industry in multiple countries.

E-commerce hit some roadblocks during an economic downturn in 2022. However, Amazon's recent quarterly results indicate the industry has returned to growth. In Q3 2023, the company posted revenue growth of 13% year over year, beating Wall Street forecasts by $1.5 billion.

The increase was primarily owed to an impressive turnaround in its North America segment, which posted more than $4 billion in operating income after suffering $412 million in losses in the year-ago period.

In addition to e-commerce, Amazon holds the largest market share in cloud computing with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which it is using to carve out a promising position in AI. The tech giant is heavily investing in the technology, introducing a diverse range of AI tools on AWS over the last year and announcing a venture into chip development.