Shares of Amazon.com AMZN edged up 0.8% during the last trading session, recovering from an initial slide in after-hours trading on April 29, following its first-quarter results release. While the tech giant delivered robust growth in its AWS cloud division, the figures weren't enough to fully quell investor concerns.
In particular, skepticism remains high around Amazon’s capital expenditure, as Wall Street weighs the significant costs of building AI infrastructure against the timeline for achieving tangible profitability.
However, Amazon is seeing strong momentum in its custom silicon business. Its chip division, including the Graviton and Trainium processors, has reached an annual revenue run rate exceeding $20 billion, with triple-digit year-over-year growth, in the first quarter. As AI continues to serve as the primary growth engine for the tech sector through 2026, these in-house capabilities further strengthen Amazon’s position as a frontrunner in the infrastructure race.
For investors looking to capture this AI-driven profit growth while tempering the volatility associated with the company’s massive CapEx cycle, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a strategic middle ground. By targeting funds where Amazon is a top-10 holding, investors can gain significant exposure to AMZN’s upside while benefiting from a diversified basket of assets.
But before diving into the specifics of these ETFs, let us take a closer look at how the world’s largest e-commerce platform performed in the first quarter across other key metrics.
A Brief Analysis of AMZN’s Q1 Results
Amazon’s first-quarter earnings of $2.78 improved a solid 74.8% year over year. Its revenues beat the consensus estimate by 2.1% and surged 17% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
The Amazon Web Service (“AWS”) segment witnessed year-over-year sales growth of 28%. This surge was driven by a symbiotic relationship between AI and core cloud services, as customers scaling AI workloads into production also increased their core AWS usage.
The company’s advertising business delivered solid growth in the first quarter, with revenues increasing 22% year over year. Forrester recently recognized Amazon Ads as a leader in omnichannel advertising platforms, citing its unmatched supply and insights across connected TV and commerce media.
Its grocery business is also delivering solid growth, with AMZN now being the second largest grocer in the United States. The company currently offers perishables delivered same-day alongside millions of other items in more than 2,300 cities and towns across the country.
Looking ahead, Amazon is leveraging next-gen robotics to drive a major shift in fulfillment productivity. By streamlining inventory placement and deploying advanced automation across all new 2026 U.S. large-format facilities, the company aims to further reduce delivery times and operational costs.
Amazon expects Trainium to drive tens of billions in annual CapEx savings and add several hundred basis points to operating margins.
For the second quarter of 2026, Amazon forecasts net sales to be in the range of $194 billion to $199 billion, indicating continued momentum despite a 10-basis-point foreign exchange headwind and inflationary pressures in transportation. The company also anticipates operating income to be in the band of $20-$24 billion, including the effects of fuel inflation and elevated ‘Amazon Leo’ satellite launch costs ahead of its commercial debut in the third quarter.
Amazon-Heavy ETFs in Focus
Global X PureCap MSCI Consumer Discretionary ETF GXPD
This fund, with net assets worth $36.1 million, provides exposure to 50 U.S.-listed Consumer Discretionary companies. Of these, Amazon takes the first spot, holding 40.86% of the fund.
GXPD has gained 6.3% over the past year and charges 15 bps in fees.
Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY
This fund, with assets under management (AUM) worth $23.13 billion, offers exposure to 48 U.S. companies from specialty retail; broadline retail; hotels, restaurants and leisure; textiles, apparel and luxury goods; household durables; automobiles; automobile components; distributors; leisure products; and diversified consumer services industries. Of these, Amazon takes the first spot, holding 27.75% of the fund.
XLY has soared 19.3% over the past year and charges 8 bps in fees.
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF VCR
This fund, with net assets worth $5.6 billion, offers exposure to 286 U.S. companies belonging to the consumer discretionary sector. Of these, Amazon takes the first spot, holding 24.77% of the fund.
VCR has rallied 20.1% over the past year and charges 9 bps in fees.
Fidelity MSCI Consumer Discretionary Index ETF FDIS
This fund, with net assets worth $1.6 billion, offers exposure to 252 consumer discretionary companies from the U.S. equity market. Of these, Amazon takes the first spot, holding 24.67% of the fund.
FDIS has surged 19.9% over the past year and charges 8 bps in fees.
ProShares Online Retail ETF ONLN
This fund, with net assets worth $68.4 million, provides exposure to 20 companies that are at the forefront of the rising e-commerce theme. Of these, Amazon takes the first spot, holding 24.63% of the fund.
ONLN has surged 40.1% over the past year and charges 58 bps in fees.
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Global X PureCap MSCI Consumer Discretionary ETF (GXPD): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
