Shopify Tripled AI Orders — From a Base It Won't Name

Four companies reported. Three of them are paying more to grow.UPS did $22.8 billion in the second quarter, up 7.6%, raised full-year guidance, and watched the stock fall 6%. The model right now is charging more for fewer packages, and domestic operating profit took transformation charges on the way through.PayPal put up $8.68 billion, up 5%. Volume keeps climbing. Take rate and operating margin keep sliding. Buybacks are doing the work of holding EPS flat.Amazon hit a record $200.6 billion quarter with strong AWS growth, though part of the earnings line came from a paper remeasurement on its Anthropic stake rather than from operations. Capex is going up again, and it is going into AI capacity.Shopify grew 34% to $3.58 billion and spent much of the call on AI. Management says AI-driven orders tripled year over year. Management did not say what that is worth in dollars.The Watson Weekly is sponsored by Avalara. Learn more at avalara.watsonweekly.comThen the Investor Minute: Poshmark, Procter & Gamble buying Thorne, Domo going to Progress Software, Calilmacus, and King Kullen finding a buyer on Long Island.#watsonweekly #paypal #ups #shopify #amazon