Amazon's (AMZN Quick QuoteAMZN - Free Report) aggressive global expansion strategy positions the e-commerce and cloud computing giant for substantial growth in 2026, making AMZN stock an attractive near-term investment opportunity. The company's December 2025 announcement of a $35 billion investment in India by 2030, combined with more than $23 billion committed to new AWS cloud regions across Asia-Pacific and Latin America, demonstrates management's conviction in capturing international market share during a pivotal period for artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout.

Third-quarter 2025 results validated this expansion thesis, with total revenues reaching $180.2 billion, up 13% year over year. Amazon Web Services delivered $33 billion in quarterly revenues, accelerating to 20% growth — the fastest pace since 2022. Operating income hit $17.4 billion, while free cash flow guidance points toward $125 billion in capital expenditures for 2025, with similar investments planned for 2026, primarily targeting AI infrastructure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.17 per share, indicating a jump of 29.66% from the year-ago period.

AWS Cloud Expansion Creates Durable Competitive Advantages

Amazon's 2025 infrastructure buildout has been nothing short of transformational. The company launched four new AWS regions this year alone, establishing footholds in Thailand, Mexico, Taiwan, and New Zealand. The Thailand launch in January marked a $5 billion commitment to position Bangkok as a regional AI hub, while Taiwan's June opening brought similar investment levels to serve the semiconductor industry's cloud computing needs. New Zealand's September debut included NZ$7.5 billion in planned spending over 15 years, with commitments to power operations entirely through renewable energy.

Beyond these completed launches, Amazon announced a $4 billion AWS region for Chile expected in late 2026, extending the company's Latin American presence alongside existing São Paulo and newly opened Mexico operations. This systematic geographic expansion directly addresses data residency requirements and latency concerns that have historically limited cloud adoption in emerging markets.

The India investment unveiled at Amazon's Smbhav Summit on Dec. 10, 2025, represents the company's most ambitious emerging market commitment. Building on $40 billion already deployed since 2010, this fresh capital targets AI-driven digitization for 15 million small businesses, quadrupling e-commerce exports to $80 billion, and creating one million additional jobs. These initiatives position Amazon to dominate India's rapidly growing digital economy while competitors struggle to match such scale.

Supporting these international moves, Amazon committed £40 billion to the U.K. infrastructure through 2027, including four new fulfillment centers and expanded data center capacity. Australia received AU$20 billion for Sydney and Melbourne AI infrastructure — described as the largest technology investment in Australian history. Collectively, Amazon's 2025 global investment announcements exceed $200 billion, establishing infrastructure advantages that will compound over the years.

Stock Valuation Supports Near-Term Upside

Amazon shares have lost 8.2% over the past month, underperforming the broader Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector. Despite this recent weakness, the pullback creates an attractive entry point for investors seeking cloud exposure heading into 2026, particularly as AWS growth momentum builds on the back of massive infrastructure investments.

AMZN’s 1-Month Performance

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Competitors like Microsoft (MSFT Quick QuoteMSFT - Free Report) have captured headlines with Azure's 39% revenue growth, outpacing AWS' 20% expansion rate. However, Microsoft's cloud segment remains smaller in absolute terms, and Microsoft faces integration challenges scaling AI services across its enterprise portfolio. Alphabet (GOOGL Quick QuoteGOOGL - Free Report) -owned Google has similarly accelerated with Google Cloud growing 34% year over year, yet Google still holds just 12% market share compared to AWS' commanding 30% position. Oracle (ORCL Quick QuoteORCL - Free Report) has emerged as the cloud market's surprise performer, with infrastructure revenue surging 55% as Oracle capitalizes on database migration opportunities, though Oracle operates at a fraction of AWS' scale with roughly $7 billion in quarterly cloud revenues.

Amazon's price-to-earnings ratio of 29.22x represents a significant premium to the Zacks Internet Commerce industry average of 24.27x, though it remains well below the company's five-year historical average of 51.58x, suggesting the stock has room for multiple expansion as AWS growth re-accelerates. This valuation compression reflects investor skepticism about capital expenditure levels rather than fundamental deterioration.

AMZN’s P/E F12M Valuation

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion

The combination of AI infrastructure leadership, diversified revenue streams, including a $17.7 billion advertising business growing 24% in the third quarter of 2025, and systematic global expansion makes Amazon a compelling buy for investors seeking quality growth exposure in 2026. The recent share price weakness, coupled with valuation multiples below historical averages, creates an opportune entry point for long-term investors. As AWS expansion projects come online and emerging market investments generate returns, Amazon's earnings power could drive substantial expansion, making AMZN an attractive buy recommendation for portfolios seeking exposure to the digital transformation mega-trend. AMZN currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.