Amazon Inc revealed a promising outlook for its third quarter 2022 revenue forecasts despite posting a loss in its second-quarter results.
The firm’s shares shot up more than 10% just after the open on Friday to about $135 per share after its 2Q revenue growth of 7% topped estimates, putting it in a venerated position amongst its technology cohorts.
Adding to the excitement, Amazon said it expects to post 3Q revenue between $125 billion and $130 billion, versus analyst estimates of $126.4 billion, according to Refinitiv.
READ: Will Amazon stave off declines in digital advertising?
Total revenue over the three-month period came in at US$121.2 billion versus $119 billion estimates, and up from $113.1 billion during the same year-ago quarter.
However, Amazon posted a net loss of $2 billion, or $0.20 per share, compared to a net income of $7.8 billion in 2Q 2021 and missing profit estimates of around $0.12 per share.
Other highlights from the balance sheet include a 33% increase in cloud computing revenue, while the lowlights included a $3.9 billion loss on its Rivian electric vehicle investment, bringing total markdowns for the year to $11.5 billion.
Amazon’s stock is down around 25% since back-to-back quarterly earnings disappointed the e-commerce giant's investors, but the Street responded well to the latest results.
“Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon’s CEO in a statement accompanying the numbers.
Jassy said the firm is seeing its revenue accelerate thanks to Prime improvements, such as investing in faster shipping speeds, unique benefits like free delivery from Grubhub for a year, and exclusive access to NFL Thursday Night Football games.
The firm is releasing the highly anticipated series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ on September 2 – the most expensive television project ever produced.
Resilient consumer demand drives revenue beat, analysts say
Following the release of Amazon's 2Q earnings, analysts at Wedbush Securities wrote that they were maintaining their 'Outperform' rating on the stock with a 12-month price target of $175.
“Despite inflationary pressures, a tight labor environment, and suboptimal fixed cost leverage, Amazon delivered strong second quarter results that benefited from elevated levels of consumer demand and better optimization of its fulfillment network,” analysts wrote.
“Longer-term, Amazon should benefit from steady margin expansion driven by the rapid growth of its cloud and advertisement businesses.”
Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas