Amazon share price

2022 - 10 - 28

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Bloomberg"

Amazon Shares Plunge on Forecast for Sluggish Holiday Sales (Bloomberg)

Amazon.com Inc. projected sluggish sales for the holiday quarter as the e-commerce giant contends with slower growth and consumers cutting their spending in ...

Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing division, and the advertising unit each reported muted third-quarter revenue growth by their lofty standards. The shares plunged about 13% in extended trading. Either figure would be the slowest increase ever for Amazon’s “Peak” season, which usually finds warehouse employees rushing to get orders out on time.

Amazon stock sinks 16% on weak fourth-quarter guidance (CNBC)

Amazon missed on the top and bottom lines for the third quarter, and it gave weak fourth-quarter sales guidance.

Amazon reported net income of $2.9 billion in the third quarter, which includes a gain of $1.1 billion in non-operating income from its Rivian stake. Ad revenue surged 25% year over year to $9.55 billion during the quarter, which handily topped analysts' estimates of $9.48 billion. [took the helm](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/05/amazon-new-ceo-andy-jassy-takes-over-for-jeff-bezos.html) from founder [Jeff Bezos](https://www.cnbc.com/jeff-bezos/) in July 2021, Amazon has responded to rising expenses by [aggressively cutting costs](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/12/amazon-cost-cuts-under-andy-jassy-reflect-new-reality-after-25-years.html) across numerous divisions in recent months. [Apple](/quotes/AAPL/), which also reported on Thursday, beat on earnings and revenue but came up short in core product categories including the iPhone business and the services unit. [Alphabet](/quotes/GOOGL/) and Facebook parent [Meta](/quotes/META/) both posted earnings that fell short of expectations as they navigate challenges in the digital ad market. Amazon Web Services accounted for all of the company's profit, plus some, as the cloud unit generated operating income of $5.4 billion. Operating income at Amazon fell by almost half from a year earlier to $2.53 billion from $4.85 billion. Jassy said in the release that customer response to the new discount event, and Prime Day, hosted in July, was "quite positive." [Microsoft](/quotes/MSFT/) wasn't immune, reporting softer-than-expected cloud revenue and weak quarterly guidance. It's the second time this year Amazon's results have been disappointing enough to spark a double-digit percentage selloff. Like the rest of Big Tech, Amazon has had a rocky year so far as it confronts macroeconomic headwinds, soaring inflation and rising interest rates. Amazon said it expects to post fourth-quarter revenue between $140 billion and $148 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 2% to 8%.