Though Amazon.com’s stock soared after the company reported earnings in July, shares have more than given back their gains since, hurt by a market selloff and recent selling pressure in the shares of tech giants.
Bulls are hoping Amazon (AMZN) will once more surprise to the upside on Thursday afternoon. Among analysts polled by FactSet, the consensus is for the e-commerce and cloud giant to report third-quarter revenue of $127.39 billion (up 15% annually) and GAAP EPS of $0.22 (down 29%).
Amazon provides quarterly sales and operating income guidance in its reports. For the seasonally big fourth quarter, the company’s revenue consensus stands at $155.09 billion (up 13%) while its GAAP operating income consensus stands at $5.05 billion (up 46%).
Eric Jhonsa, Real Money’s tech columnist, will be live-blogging Amazon’s report, which is expected after the bell on Thursday, along with an earnings call scheduled for 5:30 P.M. Eastern Time.
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4:28 PM ET: Q3 sales by business:
Online stores (direct e-commerce) +7% Y/Y to $53.49B, below a $54.28B consensus
Physical stores (dominated by Whole Foods) +10% to $4.69B, slightly below a $4.71B consensus
Third-party seller services (commissions, fulfillment, etc.) +18% to $28.67B, above a $27.93B consensus
Subscription services (Prime fees, content subscriptions, etc.) +9% to $8.9B, below a $9.09B consensus
Ads +25% to $9.55B, slightly above a $9.48B consensus
“Other” revenue (credit cards, content licensing, etc.) +163% to $1.26B, above an $843M consensus
4:22 PM ET: Andy Jassy on Amazon’s spending plans: “We’re also encouraged by the steady progress we’re making on lowering costs in our stores fulfillment network, and have a set of initiatives that we’re methodically working through that we believe will yield a stronger cost structure for the business moving forward. There is obviously a lot happening in the macroeconomic environment, and we’ll balance our investments to be more streamlined without compromising our key long-term, strategic bets. What won’t change is our maniacal focus on the customer experience, and we feel confident that we’re ready to deliver a great experience for customers this holiday shopping season.”
4:20 PM ET: Amazon’s total GAAP costs/expenses rose 18% Y/Y in Q3 to $124.58B, outpacing revenue growth of 15%. That compares with 12% growth in Q2.
4:17 PM ET: Amazon is still down 18.9% AH. Shares are at their lowest levels since March 2020.
4:16 PM ET: Whereas Amazon’s headcount fell by 99K Q/Q in Q2, it rose by 21K in Q3 to 1,544,000. Annually, headcount was up 5%.
4:13 PM ET: Amazon notes forex had a $5B impact on Q3 revenue. Revenue rose 15% Y/Y in dollars and 19% in constant currency.
For Q4, Amazon says its sales guidance assumes forex will be a 460 bps headwind.
4:10 PM ET: Q3 revenue by segment:
North America +20% Y/Y to $78.84B, above a $77.24B consensus
International -5% to $27.72B (+12% exc. forex), below a $29.00B consensus
AWS +27% to $20.54B, below a $21.20B consensus
Along with the Q4 guide, the AWS miss is likely weighing on Amazon’s shares.
4:06 PM ET: Q3 op. income, which excludes the impact of the Rivian stake, was $2.53B, below a $2.95B consensus albeit in-line with guidance of $0 to $3.5B.
4:04 PM ET: Q4 op. income guidance of $0 to $4B is below a $5.05B consensus.
4:03 PM ET: Importantly, Amazon guides for Q4 revenue of $140B-$148B, below a $155.09B consensus.
Shares are down 19.9% AH.
4:02 PM ET: Results are out. Q3 revenue of $127.1B slightly misses a $127.39B consensus. GAAP EPS of $0.28 beats a $0.22 consensus, but includes a $1.1B gain related to the valuing of Amazon’s stake in Rivian.
4:00 PM ET: Amazon closed down 4.1%. The Q3 report should be out shortly.
3:58 PM ET: Along with its top-line numbers, Amazon’s opex and margin figures will get close attention. Many investors are looking for signs of meaningful cost-cutting, following two years of massive warehouse/logistics capacity expansion.
3:54 PM ET: Amazon’s stock is down 34% YTD going into earnings, and has sold off this week amid a broader rout in the shares of tech giants. That might spell relatively low expectations heading into the report.
3:51 PM ET: The FactSet consensus is for Amazon to report Q3 revenue of $127.39B and GAAP EPS of $0.22.
Q4 sales and op. income guidance might have a bigger impact on how Amazon moves post-earnings, given Q4’s seasonal importance. The Q4 revenue consensus is at $155.09B, and the op. income consensus is at $5.05B.
3:47 PM ET: Hi, this is Eric Jhonsa. I’ll be live-blogging Amazon’s earnings report and call.