Amazon shares fall on weak sales forecasts

Amazon shares fall on weak sales forecasts

Andy Jassy, ​​CEO of Amazon and then CEO of Amazon Web Services, speaks at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 25, 2016.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Amazon shares fell as much as 7% in extended trading on Thursday after the company released a sales forecast that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Here’s how the company did it:

  • Loss: Loss per share of $7.56
  • Revenue: $116.44 billion versus $116.3 billion expected, according to Refinitiv

Here’s how other key Amazon segments performed during the quarter:

  • Amazon Web Services: $18.44 billion versus $18.27 billion expected according to StreetAccount
  • Advertising: $7.88 billion versus $8.17 billion expected according to StreetAccount

Amazon posted a $7.6 billion loss on its investment in Rivian after the electric vehicle company’s shares lost more than half their value in the quarter. This resulted in a total net loss of $3.8 billion.

Amazon’s total revenue rose 7% in the first quarter, the slowest rate since the dot-com bust in 2001 and the second consecutive period of single-digit growth.

Amazon expects revenue of $116 billion to $121 billion for the second quarter. Analysts were forecasting revenue of $125.5 billion, according to Refinitiv. Forecasts for the second quarter suggest year-over-year growth could fall even further to 3% to 7%.

“The pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine has brought unusual growth and challenges,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement. He added that the company is “exclusively focused on” balancing costs across its fulfillment network now that staffing and warehousing capacities are at normal levels.

“This may take time, particularly as we work our way through ongoing inflation and supply chain pressures, but we are seeing encouraging progress across a number of customer experience dimensions, including delivery speed performance, as we now approach levels that have not been seen since the months immediately preceding the pandemic in early 2020,” said Jassy.

This story evolves. Check for updates again.

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