NEW YORK, Jan 8, 2026, 16:13 EST — After-hours
- Amazon shares rose about 2% as the EU signaled a lighter regulatory touch for Big Tech in its digital networks overhaul.
- Amazon’s CES updates around Alexa+ and Fire TV, plus fresh AWS product moves, kept the focus on AI-driven spending and demand.
- Next up: U.S. jobs data on Jan. 9 and a string of January macro events ahead of Amazon’s expected earnings window.
Amazon.com Inc shares were up about 2% at $246.30 in late trading on Thursday after people with direct knowledge said the European Union will spare Big Tech from binding obligations in its planned Digital Networks Act overhaul. Alphabet’s Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix and Microsoft are also set to fall under a voluntary framework, the people said. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen is due to present the revamp on Jan. 20 and the European Commission declined to comment.
The decision matters because telecom operators have spent years pushing Brussels to make large online platforms help fund next-generation networks, arguing that streaming and cloud traffic drive the need for costly upgrades.
Keeping the big platforms out of hard rules lowers the odds of new fees or compliance work landing right as investors are trying to model 2026 spending plans across cloud, AI and logistics.
Amazon also outperformed the wider tape: the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ ETF was down about 0.6% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was nearly flat. After-hours trading — the period after the 4 p.m. New York close — can be thin and prices can swing on small orders.
Outside the policy headline, Amazon has been using CES in Las Vegas to push updates across devices and services, including a faster Fire TV interface and new Ring features. The company also rolled out Alexa.com for Alexa+ early access and flagged new “agentic” partnerships — AI that can take actions, not just answer questions — spanning brands such as Expedia, Yelp, Angi and Square. Amazon said Alexa+ has scaled to tens of millions of customers. About Amazon
On the cloud side, AWS said its storage-optimized EC2 I7ie instances are now available in additional regions including Mumbai, Calgary and Paris. AWS billed the instances as a performance and cost step-up for data-heavy workloads such as databases and search.
Rate talk also stayed in the background for megacap tech. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran said he was looking for “about a point and a half of cuts” this year, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pressed for lower rates in remarks cited by CNBC. Lower rates can support growth stocks by reducing the discount rate investors apply to future profits. Reuters
But the EU plan is still a draft and faces negotiations with member states and the European Parliament, leaving room for late changes. And any upside from product demos can fade fast if Friday’s U.S. jobs report jolts bond yields and risk appetite.
Traders turn next to the U.S. employment report for December, due Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET, and December CPI on Jan. 13. For Amazon, the next major test is quarterly results, which market calendars estimate for Feb. 5, ahead of the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 policy meeting.
