New York, Jan 6, 2026, 16:12 EST — After-hours
- Amazon shares closed up 3.4% at $240.91 on Tuesday.
- AWS expanded an autonomous-driving partnership with Continental spinoff Aumovio, with Aurora set to use the tools for a 2027 truck rollout.
- Investors are watching Friday’s U.S. payrolls report and Amazon’s next earnings update.
Amazon.com Inc shares closed up 3.4% at $240.91 on Tuesday, keeping the Dow component in focus heading into after-hours trading. The stock ranged from $232.07 to $243.18 and traded about 36.6 million shares.
The move comes as investors look for fresh signs that Amazon Web Services, the group’s cloud arm, can keep winning high-margin workloads as companies spend on artificial intelligence. For Amazon, that matters because AWS performance tends to carry disproportionate weight in how the market prices the business.
Amazon rose with a broader rally that lifted U.S. stocks to fresh highs, as investors leaned into Big Tech and AI-linked names ahead of key labor data later this week. Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, said he expected “a very strong earnings season for Big Tech” as investors revisit forecasts for spending on data centers and AI. Reuters
AWS and German automotive hardware supplier Aumovio said AWS would become Aumovio’s preferred cloud provider for autonomous-driving development, with Aurora’s driverless trucks due to use the tools for a scale-up from 2027. “The big accelerant in the industry has been the use of engineering AI,” said Ozgur Tohumcu, AWS general manager for automotive and manufacturing. Aumovio’s Jeremy McClain said validating Level 4 autonomy — self-driving without a human in defined conditions — hinges on finding rare “edge cases,” such as road debris. Reuters
But legal risk remains an overhang. A U.S. judge in Seattle on Monday rejected Amazon’s bid to dismiss a proposed class action accusing the online retailer of price gouging on food and other staples during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon was not immediately available for comment, Reuters reported.
Traders now turn to the next earnings update for a read on AWS demand, advertising growth and how much cash Amazon is putting into AI infrastructure. Amazon is estimated to report results on Feb. 5, according to Nasdaq’s earnings calendar.
Before that, Friday brings the U.S. employment report for December at 8:30 a.m. ET, a release that often swings bond yields and growth-stock valuations. A hot print would test the rally in megacap tech, while weaker jobs data would strengthen the case for more Federal Reserve rate cuts.
