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Amazon has presented the figures for the last quarter, thus only partially exceeding the experts’ forecasts.
Earnings per share were $ 5.01, while analysts expected $ 6.48. In the quarter of the previous year, EPS was $ 7.09.
However, Amazon also has high expenses due to the pandemic, for example, due to a recruitment campaign in front of the large number of customers in its delivery services.
Profits fell about 30 percent to $ 2.5 billion in the last quarter, but the worst is yet to come. For the current quarter, Amazon warned of special costs of around $ 4.0 billion due to the crown pandemic. In addition to job security, massive investments in delivery logistics must also be made. Amazon forecast operating profit in the range of $ 1.5 billion to $ 1.5 billion, predicting an 18 to 28 percent increase in revenue. Amazon emphasized that reliable forecasting is currently difficult.
In the first quarter, sales increased 26 percent year-over-year to $ 75.5 billion, as announced by the world’s largest online retailer on Thursday (local time) after the US close. USA However, Amazon also has high expenses due to the pandemic, for example, due to a recruitment campaign in front of the large number of customers in its delivery services.
“If you own Amazon stock, you better feel right now because we don’t think small,” CEO Jeff Bezos warned of the impending cost increase, which could consume all operating profit in the current quarter. Amazon is benefiting from the crisis in many areas, but at the same time it is “the most difficult times we have faced.” Amazon wants to spend a lot of money to better protect its employees and develop its own COVID-19 tests.
Amazon shares listed on NASDAQ now show a 7.78 percent discount to $ 2,281.58 on Friday. Previously, the newspaper had hit a new record at $ 2,475 in Thursday’s official trade.
However, Amazon has so far been one of the big winners of the crisis. In the past three months, the stock price increased more than 30 percent and reached new all-time highs. As a majority shareholder, CEO and founder Jeff Bezos also benefits enormously. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, her wealth has increased by about $ 29 billion to $ 143 billion since the start of the year, meaning she significantly expanded her status as the richest person in the world during the crisis.
> Exit restrictions due to the corona pandemic have recently exploited demand for Amazon delivery services in many regions of the United States. However, the company struggled with the large crowds and was temporarily overwhelmed. Many customers still have to wait longer than usual or cannot place an order with the coveted food delivery services. Bezos wants to solve these problems with high investments. While American companies are cutting jobs at record speed, Amazon is hiring large-scale employees.
In March it was announced that 100,000 people would be hired to meet the increased demand. Another 75,000 were hired in April, but Amazon is also widely criticized for its working conditions, especially in the Corona crisis. The company is accused of not doing enough to protect its employees and repeatedly faces protests. Amazon denies the allegations, but could still run into trouble. For example, Mayor Bill de Blasio and powerful Attorney General Letitia James intervened due to the controversial firing of a strike organizer in New York.
In the era of staying at home and working from home, the company can still rely on its lucrative cloud business, which includes IT services and Internet storage space. Amazon’s flagship AWS web platform, the market leader in cloud services for businesses, increased revenue in the last quarter by nearly a third to $ 10.2 billion. The division’s operating profit even grew about 40 percent to $ 3.1 billion. Amazon’s biggest rival in the cloud, Microsoft, had also reported strong growth in this area the day before.
Editorial Office finanzen.net / SEATTLE (dpa-AFX)
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