Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s second quarter sales rose 7% to $121.2bn, beyond expectations for $119.1bn. This reflected growth in all categories bar International retail sales.
Operating profit more than halved to $3.3bn as an 11.9% increase in costs weighed on margins. The group reported a net loss of $2.0bn, primarily driven by the group’s investment in electric vehicle business Rivian Automotive.
Q2 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Sales in the third quarter are expected to be between $125.0bn and $130.0bn and operating profit between breakeven and $3.5bn.
North American sales were up 10% to $74.4bn, but operating expenses rose at a faster rate, up 16.5%. This led to a $627m operating loss.
International sales declined 12% to $27.1bn and despite costs falling 5%, the division reported a $1.8bn operating loss.
Amazon Web Services saw revenue rise by a third to $19.7bn. Costs rose at a similar clip, leading to operating profit growth of 36.3% to $5.7bn.
Advertising Services revenue was up 18% to $8.8bn.
Fulfilment costs rose from $17.6bn to $20.3bn and the group upped spending on technology and content by 30.3%.
The group had a free cash outflow of $6.8bn, which fed into net debt of $63.9bn.
The shares were up 11.6% following the announcement.
Amazon's Earnings
Laura Hoy, Equity Analyst from Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Big tech’s been a mixed bag this earnings season, but Amazon proved that the strong can survive even the toughest environments. The group managed to beat on revenue expectations despite fierce currency headwinds, though rising costs stung operating profit growth.
The bottom line was in the red thanks to the group’s investment in the electric vehicle market, a move that further cements the behemoth’s reputation for having a finger in just about every pie. Amazon’s bulldozed its way into a range of industries over the past decade, redefining each one to fit its fancy and it’s a strategy that’s working.
The EV play is but a mere twinkle in CEO Andy Jassy’s eye at present, instead Amazon’s sights are set on advertising. For now it’s only a fraction of the business, but growth there has been strong, an encouraging sign after some of the industry’s greats warned that ad spending was starting to dry up this year. It’s really saying something that Amazon’s side hustle is thriving when others struggle, a testament to the power of its massive retail arm. Troves of data footprints and millions of customers ready and willing to click buy are a marketer’s dream.
You’d be forgiven for forgetting about the group’s less glamorous cloud arm, which hums along in the background keeping the rest of these endeavours funded. This part of the business is responsible for all of the group’s profits but is easily overlooked because of its steady, reliable growth.
At some point we’d like to see Retail start to pick up some of that slack, particularly as the group builds out its more profitable service offerings. But with inflationary headwinds keeping a lid on profits, it could be some time before that’s a reality.”
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