- Amazon saw a 2%-8% increase in sales for its fourth quarter, which is significantly lower than the two previous years.
- Amazon sales are slowing globally — particularly in Europe, amid the Ukraine war.
- Amazon’s stock price dropped 12.7% to $96.84 after-hours trade.
Amazon has just projected the company’s slowest fourth-quarter growth ever — signalling trouble ahead for retailers entering the key holiday season.
Its Third-quarter earnings report Amazon — the world’s largest online retailer — said it expects sales for the holiday quarter to come in at $140 billion to $148 billion. Analysts polled by found that this figure is much lower than the expected $155.2 billion. Reuters.
Amazon’s sales forecast marks a 2% to 8% growth over the same quarter in 2021 — but this is way below a 9%And 38% on-year growth seen in the final quarters of 2021 and 2020, respectively. Amazon’s glum outlook joins the ranks Gloomy outlooksBig Tech giants such as Alphabet or Meta.
Brian Olsavsky (Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer) said that he was prepared to weather the headwinds. reporters’ callAmazon stated that it would “take actions to tighten its belt”, including halting hiring in certain businesses, and shutting down products and services.
Olsavsky said that signs are everywhere that people’s budgets have been squeezed, that inflation has remained high and that energy costs are an added layer to other problems. Reuters.“We are preparing ourselves for what could turn out to be a slower period of growth, as most companies.”
Sales are slowing in North America and internationally — particularly in Europe, where the Ukraine war has driven up energy pricesAccording to a, Olsavsky spoke out about inflation and the economy in a conference call on Thursday with analysts. transcript.This means that both consumers and companies of all sizes will be reevaluating their expenditures, he said.
Olsavsky stated that sales growth has already slowed in the third quarter. This trend will likely continue into the fourth quarter, which covers the holiday season.
Amazon’s share price dropped 12.7% to $96.84 after-hours trade. This erased approximately $140 billion from the company’s market capitalization. Reuters.This year, the company’s shares lost almost 42% of their value.
