Amazon Web Services alone could be worth $40 to $50 billion

Starting this year Amazon shareholders will know exactly how much revenue the company generates from its cloud computing business when it starts to break out the division’s results for the first time. But that isn’t stopping at least one analyst from throwing out an early guess. In a note to investors today, analysts at Robert W. Baird said it was valuing Amazon Web Services at $40 to $50 billion, or $95 per share, on a standalone basis, TheStreet reports. At the end of last quarter, Amazon said it will start breaking out the unit’s financials in Q1 of this year. Before, it was lumping AWS results under an “other” category for North American sales. That total category generated $1.67 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, but it also included advertising services and co-branded credit card agreements. The investment banking company also said it believed AWS could become an increasingly important part of the retailer’s business, generating a $20 billion run-rate by 2020.