Shares of U.S. tech giant Amazon.com hit a new all-time high, closing 4% higher on Wednesday, fueled by robust demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence computing power. The company's market capitalization surpassed $3 trillion for the first time, making it the latest U.S. firm to join the exclusive "$3 trillion club."

The company's second-quarter earnings report showed total revenue of $200.61 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.97, both exceeding market expectations. Amazon's cloud computing unit, AWS, a key profit driver, posted revenue of $42.2 billion, marking significant growth.

Facing intense competition in artificial intelligence and surging infrastructure needs, Amazon announced a sharp increase in its annual capital expenditure. CEO Andy Jassy noted that due to rising prices for storage hardware tied to AI deployment, the company has raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast for 2026 from $200 billion to $220 billion. Jassy emphasized that even with this massive investment, the company's current computing power reserves cannot fully meet market demand in 2026, with capacity constraints expected to persist into 2027. He added that advance demand for 2028 is already substantial.

The global race among tech giants for AI and cloud computing infrastructure continues to intensify. Beyond Amazon, its key competitors are also expanding rapidly. Recent earnings showed that Microsoft's Azure cloud business grew 43% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, while Google Cloud's revenue surged 82%.