TLDR
- Cathie Wood’s ARK Fintech Innovation ETF bought 8,088 Amazon shares worth $1.93 million on January 30, just days before Q4 earnings on February 5
- Amazon is expected to report Q4 earnings of $1.97 per share on revenue of $211.43 billion, representing 13% year-over-year growth
- AWS cloud services are growing at the fastest pace since 2022, driven by increased AI spending and infrastructure demand
- Wedbush analyst maintains $340 price target for Amazon, implying 42% upside potential based on strong cloud backlog and capacity expansion
- Amazon recently completed 30,000 corporate job cuts to reduce bureaucracy and improve operational efficiency
Cathie Wood made a pre-earnings bet on Amazon. Her ARK Fintech Innovation ETF purchased 8,088 shares on January 30, valued at $1.93 million.
The timing catches attention. Amazon reports fourth-quarter results on February 5 after the market closes.
Wall Street expects earnings of $1.97 per share for Q4, up from $1.86 a year earlier. Revenue projections point to $211.43 billion, marking 13% growth year-over-year.
Wood’s funds have faced scrutiny recently. The ARK Innovation ETF posted a five-year annualized return of -11.29% through January 30, while the S&P 500 gained 14.99% over the same stretch. Despite this, her flagship fund jumped 35.49% in 2025, beating the S&P 500’s 17.88% return.
Year-to-date numbers tell a different story. As of January 30, the ARK Innovation ETF dropped 3.85% while the S&P 500 rose 1.37%. Investors pulled roughly $1.11 billion from the fund in the 12 months through January 28.
Amazon stock rallied after its third-quarter results. Shares jumped nearly 10% following the October earnings beat. The catalyst was Amazon Web Services performance.
Cloud Business Powers Growth
AWS remains the engine. CEO Andy Jassy said cloud growth hit levels not seen since 2022. Customer demand picked up as companies increased spending on AI tools and core infrastructure.
The cloud backlog grew faster than expected. Management pointed to customers locking in capacity and expanding their workloads. More cloud capacity is scheduled to come online over the next year.
Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt kept his buy rating and $340 price target. That implies roughly 42% upside from current levels. The firm highlighted strong AWS demand trends and a growing backlog as key factors.
The retail side shows strength too. Amazon’s core e-commerce business maintains healthy trends. Advertising revenue continues growing steadily. Wedbush calls Amazon its top e-commerce pick for 2026.
Amazon Completes Major Restructuring
The company wrapped up a restructuring plan in late January. Amazon confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts on January 28, completing a broader reduction of 30,000 positions since last October.
These cuts represent nearly 10% of the workforce. The layoffs mark the largest in Amazon’s three-decade history, surpassing the 27,000 positions eliminated between late 2022 and early 2023.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s top human resources executive, explained the reasoning. The cuts aim to reduce layers, increase ownership, and remove bureaucracy from operations.
Wood remains bullish on tech despite her fund’s struggles. In a January 15 letter, she rejected AI bubble concerns. She called the current period “the most powerful capital spending cycle in history” and said AI, robotics, and other technologies are ready for prime time.
The activist investor sees the economy storing energy for a sharp rebound. She believes a coiled spring effect could drive powerful growth over the next few years.
Amazon also pursues AI investments beyond its cloud business. The Wall Street Journal reported on January 29 that Amazon is in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI. That would make Amazon the biggest contributor to OpenAI’s ongoing fundraising round.
TipRanks data shows 34 buy ratings and one hold rating for Amazon stock. The average price target sits at $296.22, suggesting 23.8% upside from current levels.
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