Shares of Amazon (AMZN) are up 10% after the e-commerce company issued second-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street estimates and raised its forward guidance.
Amazon reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.65 U.S., which was 85% higher than the $0.35 U.S. expected by analysts who cover the company, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue in Q2 amounted to $134.4 billion U.S. versus $131.5 billion U.S. that was anticipated.
Additionally, Amazon beat forecasts on several other key metric for its business, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), which earned $22.1 billion U.S. in revenue during the quarter, greater than the $21.8 billion U.S. that Wall Street expected.
Advertising across Amazon’s various services and platforms totaled $10.7 billion U.S in the April through June period, which beat consensus forecasts of $10.4 billion U.S.
The latest results represent Amazon’s biggest earnings beat since the fourth quarter of 2020 and come after aggressive cost-cutting over the last 12 months.
Since autumn 2022, Amazon has undertaken the largest layoffs in its history, eliminating 27,000 jobs. The e-commerce company has also frozen corporate hiring.
Looking ahead, Amazon said it now expects sales of between $138 billion U.S. to $143 billion U.S. for the current third quarter of the year, which would represent 9% to 13% growth.
Analysts had been calling for revenue of $138.25 billion U.S. in Q3.
Amazon executives said the bullish outlook reflects the strength of its July Prime Day sales event, which has been billed as the biggest and most successful in company history.
In its Q2 earnings release, the company said artificial intelligence (A.I.) products from its AWS division are being used by numerous customers, including 3M (MMM) and HSBC Bank (HSBC).
Prior to today’s (August 4) move higher, Amazon’s stock had risen 50% this year to trade at $128.91 U.S. per share.
Tech Insider
