4. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Harvard’s Stake: $149,441,848
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is among the top beneficiaries of the AI revolution, yet its stock hasn’t received nearly the same appreciation as peers like Google and Nvidia — which many analysts see as a clear opportunity. Its AWS cloud platform is used by more than 90% of the Fortune 100, making it the largest cloud provider globally and the backbone of enterprise cloud infrastructure. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has committed $200 billion in CapEx for 2026 — the largest AI capital budget of any company in the world. A big part of that is going toward Amazon’s own custom AI chips, called Trainium, which have been gaining serious traction. Amazon deployed over 2.1 million AI chips in the past 12 months, with Trainium now accounting for more than half of those deployments. The chip business has secured major compute deals including 2 gigawatts with OpenAI and 5 gigawatts with Anthropic.
Beyond infrastructure, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) holds significant equity stakes in OpenAI, acquired for $50 billion, and approximately a 17% stake in Anthropic. Amazon’s advertising business has quietly become the third largest in the world behind Google and Meta, generating over $15 billion per quarter in largely high-margin revenue.
Artisan Value Fund stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We initiated four new positions in Q1, an above-average pace of activity. Typically, we add 1–2 new positions per quarter, averaging 1.7 per quarter over the past 5 years. Increased market volatility and greater dispersion in US equities created more opportunities to invest in companies that meet our three margin of safety criteria: attractive business economics, sound financial condition and compelling valuation. We also used the increased volatility to upgrade overall portfolio quality. Our three largest new positions were Amazon.com, Universal Music Group (UMG) and IQVIA Holdings.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) represents a high-quality, wide-moat franchise where near-term investment is potentially obscuring substantial long-term earnings power. The company’s core retail platform is underpinned by its logistics network built over decades and enhanced by significant investment during COVID that doubled the network. This infrastructure continues to drive efficiency gains and customer value, reinforcing Amazon’s dominant market position. Complementing this is AWS, the original hyperscale cloud platform and a critical profit engine, contributing roughly 60% of operating income. AWS remains a leading cloud platform and a key profit driver, with strong positioning in AI supported by proprietary chips such as Graviton and Trainium. Despite elevated capital expenditures tied to AI, logistics and other growth initiatives, Amazon’s financial position remains exceptionally strong, with significant net cash and a well-laddered debt profile. Current earnings understate normalized profitability, in our view, due to heavy reinvestment across multiple initiatives, including AI infrastructure, robotics and new delivery capabilities. As these investments mature, we believe both revenue growth and margins should expand. At our initial purchase, the stock traded near historic valuation lows relative to its earnings power, offering an opportunity to own a premium, structurally advantaged business at a market-like multiple, with potential additional upside from its fast-growing, high-margin advertising segment.”
