Amazon Loses $3.8 Billion In Profits But Andy Jassy Is Not Concerned

Amazon
AMZN
announced its first quarter (Q1) results including a moderate revenue increase of 7% compared to last year in the same period. The reversal of the double-digit sales trend from the past two years where sales were up 44% in Q1 of 2021 and 25% in 2020 are indicators of a challenging external global environment along with a shift in consumer behavior. Factors impacting sales for Amazon in the near term are a reduction in digital spending by consumers, continued inflationary pressures and the war in Ukraine.

The company had a loss of $3.8 billion in profits which were down 147% compared to last year’s $8.1 billion. Amazon had a pre-tax loss of $7.6 billion from the common stock investment in Rivian Automotive.

AWS broadens its reach

The AWS (Amazon Web Services) was the shining star with sales up 37% in Q1 on top of the growth in 2021 of 32%. “The pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine have brought unusual growth and challenges,” said Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon. “With AWS growing 34% annually over the last two years, and 37% year-over-year in the first quarter, AWS has been integral in helping companies weather the pandemic and move more of their workloads into the cloud.” Boeing
BA
, a global manufacturer of airplanes and space systems, selected AWS as a strategic cloud provider and will run high-performance computing workloads on AWS according to the earnings report.

Reduction in digital spending in the U.S. market

Online consumer spending in the U.S. market slowed dramatically in March from January and February. Nonstore sales in January were up 15.3% but dropped to a small increase of 2.6% in March. The decline has been impacted by inflation and an increase in consumers shopping in stores with physical store sales up 7.4% in March. Amazon’s Q1 results mirrored these same trends as online sales for the company dropped 1% while physical store sales were up 16%.

Unionization efforts remain a dark cloud

While the company did not comment on the current unionization efforts at some of its warehouses, it remains a current burden for the company as it continues to work on anti-union efforts. Amazon’s workers at JFK8, a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted to form a union with 55% of voting workers in favor of unionization earlier this year. Another warehouse near the Staten Island facility is currently voting this week to unionize with the same union as JFK8. The result of the second union vote in New York and the outcome of the ongoing dispute of hundreds of challenged ballots in the Bessemer, Alabama warehouse union election may have a profound impact on Amazon’s workforce management initiatives and operating expenses.

Amazon was ranked number one in the U.S. on LinkedIn’s annual Top Companies list and ranked number two on Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies list, which evaluates corporate reputation based on factors such as quality of management and products, commitment to social responsibility, and ability to attract talent. Amazon achieved the Top Employer Certification by the Top Employers Institute for 2022 in France, Italy, Poland, and Spain in recognition of Amazon’s quality work environment, professional development opportunities, and programs available to employees.

Stay the course

Jassy is confident about the future of Amazon’s performance and stated, “Today, as we’re no longer chasing physical or staffing capacity, our teams are squarely focused on improving productivity and cost efficiencies throughout our fulfillment network.” Jassy discussed the continued challenges with inflationary and supply chain pressures, but stated, “ We see encouraging progress on a number of customer experience dimensions, including delivery speed performance as we’re now approaching levels not seen since the months immediately preceding the pandemic in early 2020.”

The company also announced that Prime Day will take place in July in more than 20 countries and shifts the major event out of the second quarter and into the third quarter.