If you subscribe to the "buy low, sell high" investing strategy, Amazon (AMZN -1.46%) might not interest you. Shares of the e-commerce and cloud-hosting giant have skyrocketed over 50% so far this year.

However, Amazon looks like a great pick for investors who don't mind buying high and selling (years in the future) at a much higher price. Here are three reasons why buying Amazon stock now could be a brilliant move.

1. Increased profitability on the way

Stock prices tend to follow the trajectory of earnings, and Amazon's earnings are likely to increase in the near future. Retail operating margins have already improved. Amazon's operating cash flow for the trailing 12 months ending March 31, 2023 soared 38% year over year. These trends are the result of cost-cutting by the company.

Amazon has shut down some businesses, including Amazon Care, Amazon Fabric, and its physical bookstores. It quit offering free shipping for online grocery orders over $35 and eliminated 27,000 corporate jobs.

These streamlining efforts still haven't completely shown up in Amazon's quarterly profits. CEO Andy Jassy said in the first-quarter conference call that the company will "continue to evaluate what we're seeing in our business and proceed adaptively." 

2. A big advertising opportunity

You might not view Amazon as an ad tech company, but it has definitely become one. There has been a slump in overall digital advertising in recent quarters. Amazon, however, has managed to buck this trend. Its advertising services revenue jumped 23% year over year in Q1.

One key reason behind this growth is that Amazon is using artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure customers see relevant ads. It's also helping advertisers more effectively measure their return on investment.

Jassy noted in the Q1 call that Amazon is "still very early in our efforts to find a way to thoughtfully place ads in our broader video, live sports, audio, and grocery properties." He added, "We have a lot of upside still in advertising."

3. An unstoppable trend

If I had to pick only one long-term reason to buy Amazon stock, though, it would be the unstoppable trend of organizations moving to the cloud. That trend has been intensified by the rapid developments in AI.

Jassy doesn't think many people fully realize just how much a "pending deluge" of AI will drive new cloud business over the next few years. I suspect he's right.

Amazon remains the market leader in cloud hosting with its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit. Although AWS' growth has slowed, it should only be temporary.

Even though the cloud market has grown tremendously, most global IT spending remains on-premises. Over the next 10 to 15 years, however, the equation will likely flip, with most IT spending in the cloud.

Reasons to not buy Amazon stock

I've left out several other reasons to consider buying Amazon stock. These notably include the company's strong moat, its opportunities to grow in e-commerce, and the likelihood that it will expand into new markets. But are there reasons to not buy Amazon stock right now? Yep.

One is that investors could have an opportunity to buy shares at a lower price if there's a pullback. With some economists predicting that a U.S. recession is on the way, that pullback could be around the corner.

Another is that you might find even better stocks to buy than Amazon. For example, the stocks of companies with smaller market caps could have even more room to run than Amazon does.

While these are a couple of valid reasons to not buy Amazon stock right now, I nonetheless think that scooping up shares could be a brilliant move. No one knows for sure what the economy will do. And although there are no doubt plenty of other great stocks to buy, I still believe that Amazon remains one of the best choices around for long-term investors.