Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage today, and investors don't want to miss out. Companies like Nvidia and Palantir Technologies have delivered extraordinary gains for investors -- 816% and 1,600% over the past three years, respectively.
Amazon (AMZN -0.57%) hasn't been as outstanding in that time frame, doubling over three years. That's still an impressive, market-beating feat. And Amazon is a lot more than AI, which is why it can keep growing, way past the AI era. Here are 10 reasons to buy it today and hold it forever -- and AI is only one of them.
Image source: Amazon.
1. E-commerce is growing
E-commerce continues to grow as a percentage of retail sales, and retail is always growing, too. According to the Unites States Census Bureau, U.S. retail sales increased 3.2% in the first quarter of 2025 over the corresponding period last year, however e-commerce sales increased 5.6%, growing to 15.9% of total retail sales.
This is an ongoing pattern that benefits Amazon as the leading U.S. e-commerce provider.
2. Amazon's lead in e-commerce
Amazon's lead is so wide that for the foreseeable future, it's impenetrable. It accounts for around 40% of all U.S. e-commerce, and that's a self-reinforcing moat; customers, especially loyal Prime members, rely on it more and more as it adds new products and gets orders to their destinations faster.
Amazon is continually making progress in those areas. It recently added several luxury brands to the marketplace, including a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue, and it's redoing its inbound fulfillment channels to expand its capabilities to keep more inventory closer to more shoppers.
3. Cloud services are growing
Cloud services are growing even faster than e-commerce, and it's another growth industry where Amazon dominates through Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to Grand View Research, the cloud industry is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4% through 2030.
CEO Andy Jassy says that 85% of company spend is still on the premises, but that's going to flip over the next 10 to 20 years, bringing billions of dollars to cloud computing providers.
4. Amazon's lead in the cloud
Amazon's lead in the cloud business isn't as wide as in e-commerce, but it's still significant. AWS has 30% of the global market, compared with 21% for Microsoft Azure and 21% for Alphabet's Google Cloud, according to Statista.
5. Streaming is overtaking Cable and broadcast TV
Streaming has been growing in prominence and popularity for years, and adoption accelerated when the pandemic started. It was only a matter of time before it became the dominant medium for viewing content, and that time is here. In May, streaming accounted for more viewing hours than cable and broadcast TV combined for the first time with 44.8%, according to Nielsen data.
Amazon is a major player in streaming with Prime Video, and it owns both Amazon Studios and MGM Studios. Like the other main streaming services, it offers a premium tier for Prime members and an ad-supported tier.
6. The strong advertising business
The streaming platform is one new area where Amazon is boosting its advertising business, but it has monetized its marketplace with ads from third-party sellers for years. Advertising is usually its fastest-growing segment, and it increased 18% year over year in the 2025 first quarter. It's a high-margin business with many long-term opportunities.
7. Inroads into healthcare
Amazon acquired One Medical in 2023, and it also offers subscription medication services through Amazon Pharmacy. It doesn't report this as a separate segment, but it's still investing in its growth, and it's growing the Pharmacy segment by expanding its coverage of areas where it can get medications to more people in one day.
8. Other new businesses
There's always something new on Amazon's radar. Recently, it's focused on AI, but it's also working on Project Kuiper, a broadband satellite business. It just launched its first satellite, with others coming, and it's planning to start offering services to customers in the back half of the year.
9. It's hugely profitable
Amazon is incredibly profitable, and operating income increased 20% year over year in the first quarter. Operating margin is reaching new highs, hitting 11.8% in the first quarter. This is being driven by its high-growth, high-margin services like AWS and advertising.
10. The AI opportunity
I saved AI for last to demonstrate that Amazon has so much more going for it, which is why it has so much staying power. AI is already a multibillion-dollar business, and Jassy sees AI as a trillion-dollar opportunity. He envisions AI as being a standard component of every app that's going to be developed, and he expects much of that to happen through the AWS platform.
Amazon offers growth opportunities in AI and beyond, and it could be an excellent addition to your portfolio.
