Amazon.com Inc.

We expect the cloud computing market to strengthen and the few large players, including AWS, will continue their rapid growth, and further their leading market positions.We expect cloud outlays will significantly outperform global information technology (IT) spending growth for years to come. According to IDC, worldwide public cloud service revenue will increase by a 22.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2017 and 2022. S&P Global Ratings' stable rating outlook on Amazon.com Inc. reflects our expectation for strong cash flow generation, continued investment in growth, and that business conditions will remain favorable for online retailers and major cloud computing firms over the next two years. We anticipate growth rates will be among the highest for the entire retail industry and

...Amazon continues to benefit from a first-mover advantage that supports topline and market share growth in key businesses, even as key competitors demonstrate progress.We attribute Amazon.com Inc.'s ongoing rapid retail revenue growth (even if slower recently--see chart 1) to its first-mover advantage in creating and sustaining customer expectations for ease of purchase and fast, free delivery for the fee-based Prime loyalty program, which has over 100 million paying members. While Amazon has been a catalyst for consumer mindset shifts, large retail competitors such as Wal-Mart and Target are demonstrating success in meeting consumers' higher expectations. First-mover advantage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains intact, offering access to raw computing and storage capacity to customers of all sizes. AWS has continued to spend in the billions of dollars annually to expand its service offerings, complement its infrastructure-as-a-service business, and further extend its competitive advantage....

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