Shares of Amazon (AMZN) soared by about 2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after the American retail giant reported first-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ forecasts for both revenue and net income. Driven by robust performance from its cloud computing segment, Amazon continues the trend of impressive results by Big Tech companies, even as investors focus on the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting scheduled for later that day.

On Tuesday evening, the company announced a 13% increase in net sales from the same period last year, totaling $143.3 billion, which surpassed the analysts’ expectations of $142.6 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The increase was largely fueled by a 16% rise in revenue from Amazon Web Services (AWS), which, according to the company, is on track to generate $100 billion annually.

The company posted an adjusted earnings per share of $0.98, compared to the consensus estimates of $0.83.

Like its competitors Microsoft and Alphabet, Amazon leverages its capabilities in cloud computing to gain an edge in the emerging AI market. AI tools require massive amounts of data and computing power to train and operate large language models and their applications, relying on cloud services to provide the necessary infrastructure.

Amazon’s CFO, Brian Olsavsky, noted in a call with reporters after the earnings report that the company’s overall capital expenditures are expected to “significantly” increase this year from nearly $50 billion in 2023, due to rising infrastructure costs to support AWS growth.