AMZN Stock Surges 14% as Amazon Exceeds Expectations on Revenue in Q2 2022

After Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced a better-than-expected 2022 Q2 revenue, the company advanced nearly 14% in after-hours trading. The strong revenue and upbeat guidance for the coming quarter pushed the company’s shares 13.62% to $138.94. The e-commerce company said revenue for the quarter was $121.23 billion, exceeding the $119.09 billion expected by analysts. Profits from Amazon Web Services were reported at $19.7 billion, higher than the $19.56 billion. Advertising also exceeded the $8.65 billion expectation at $8.76 billion.

Amazon Announces Q2 2022 Results

In the Q2 2022 results, Amazon revealed that its net sales increased 7% to $121.2 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the company accounted for $113.1 billion in net sales. As revenue grew 7% in Q2 2022, Amazon expects more revenue in Q3. The company is expecting revenue growth between $125 billion and $130 billion, about a 13% to 17% surge. Meanwhile, analysts’ revenue expectation for the quarter was $126.4 billion.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted:

“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. We’re also seeing revenue accelerate as we continue to make Prime even better for members, both investing in faster shipping speeds, and adding unique benefits such as free delivery from Grubhub for a year, exclusive access to NFL Thursday Night Football games starting September 15, and releasing the highly anticipated series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on September 2.

The last Amazon Prime Day event in July 2022 was the biggest one in the company’s history. The e-commerce giant noted that Prime members globally shopped more and saved more during the event than the previous ones. According to the company, members bought more than 300 million items and saved over $1.7 billion. Furthermore, Prime members all around the globe purchased over 100,000 items per minute on July 12 and July 13. Amazon Devices, Consumer Electronics, and Home were the top best-selling categories. Specifically, Amazon Devices saw its record-breaking Prime Day in the history of the Prime Day event.

Amazon to Resume Hiring at a Slower Pace

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky hinted at the possibility of resuming hiring after letting go of thousands of employees in Q2 2022. The company dismissed 99,000 people in the quarter after almost doubling its workforce during the coronavirus pandemic. Amid the layoff trend among tech companies, Amazon said it might be time for companies to resume hiring. However, Olsavsky noted that the company may not be hiring at the same pace it did over the past years.

Except for an 11.61% gain over the month, Amazon stock has been declining. The company has plunged nearly 27% since January this year.