Amazon revenue jumps 13%, continuing rebound

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN

New York (CNN) — Amazon’s good year continues.

The e-commerce giant on Thursday reported revenue of $143.1 billion for the quarter ending in September, marking a 13% increase from the same period last year and beating analysts’ estimates.

The company reported quarterly profits of $9.9 billion, also beating estimates.

Amazon Web Services, a longtime profit-driver at the company, saw quarterly sales jump 12% to $23.1 billion. The company also reported some $12.1 billion in Advertising revenue, marking a whopping 26% increase from the same period last year. Sales in North America were another bright spot in the report, climbing 11% year-over-year to $87.9 billion.

Shares for Amazon jumped more 3% in after-hours trading immediately after the earnings report Thursday, before giving up some of the initial gains. Amazon stock has climbed some 40% in 2023 alone, besting both the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

Amazon’s robust sales growth this year comes on the heels of a bruising 2022 for the company, and broader tech sector, that was marked by steep cost-cutting efforts. In March, Amazon announced it was cutting 9,000 jobs in addition to the 18,000 layoffs that the company had confirmed in January.

The mass layoffs came after Amazon saw demand surge in the early days of the pandemic as more people turned to e-commerce, ordering goods online, amid lockdowns and restrictions while the virus raged. The company then saw demand slip last year as pandemic restrictions began to ease, and rising inflation and other macroeconomic fears loomed large over consumer spending.

The company has seen steady revenue growth in 2023, however, indicating CEO Andy Jassy’s efforts to rein-in costs across the sprawling business empire appear to be paying off so-far.

“The retail giant’s slowdown last year appears to be in the rearview mirror as it has embarked on significant cost-cutting throughout this year and sharpened its focus on key growth areas,” Zak Sambor, a senior analyst at Insider Intelligence, said in a note Thursday afternoon after Amazon’s earnings results were posted.

The upbeat earnings report, however, comes as the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states have sued Amazon last month in a landmark monopoly case that alleges the company abused its economic dominance and harmed fair competition. (Amazon has called the lawsuit “wrong on the facts and the law”).

Amazon’s earnings report also comes on the heels of strong quarterly sales growth reports from fellow tech giants Microsoft, Google and Meta – signaling Big Tech companies are continuing their comeback and defying fears of near-term economic weakness.

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