Amazon shatters earnings expectations as Jeff Bezos prepares to depart
Amazon’s stock increased after the e-commerce giant posted a record quarterly profit, boosted by pandemic-fueled demand for online shopping and growth in its cloud computing sector.
The company posted revenue of $108.5 billion, up 44% year over year, and an eye-popping profit of $8.1 billion. Both outperformed Wall Street forecasts by a wide margin.
Amazon’s stock was up about 2% in premarket trading.
The record-breaking quarter comes as Jeff Bezos, the company’s CEO, chairman, and founder, prepares to depart in the second half of the year. Andy Jassy, president of Amazon’s cloud computing division, will succeed Bezos as CEO. CFO Brian Olsavsky refused to discuss the company’s transition plans during a Thursday evening call with investors.
Additionally, the e-commerce behemoth provided better-than-expected guidance for the second quarter. Revenue is expected to be between $110 billion and $116 billion, the company said. $108.6 billion was the consensus estimate on Wall Street.
Additionally, Amazon revealed in its guidance that Prime Day, its annual two-day discount bonanza, would take place in June this year. Last year’s Prime Day was rescheduled for October due to pandemic uncertainty.
Bezos and his deputies emphasized the company’s continued success in markets other than e-commerce. Amazon Web Services increased revenue by 32% year over year to $13.5 billion in the third quarter.
Bezos also highlighted the company’s success in Prime Video, the streaming service included with its $119-per-year Prime subscription.
“As Prime Video celebrates its tenth birthday, more than 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the last year, and viewing hours have increased by more than 70% year over year,” Bezos said in a statement.
