The US company Amazon has published its quarterly figures – and shocked with massive profit losses in Europe. An end to the downward trend does not appear to be in sight for the time being.
After an extreme boom in online shopping in the past two years, partly caused by the corona pandemic, customers are shopping more offline again. The mail order company Amazon felt the effects. In fact, the main reason why the US group is posting a billion-dollar loss according to its quarterly figures is another.
The Amazon billion loss in numbers
On Thursday (April 28, 2022) after the close of trading in New York Amazon published its unpleasant quarterly figures. They document a loss of 3.8 billion US dollars. Revenue increased by just 7 percent to $116.4 billion in the first quarter. For comparison: In the first three months of the previous year, Amazon’s profit was 8.1 billion and sales growth was 44 percent.
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“Unusual Challenges” and Stock Crash
In the publication, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy dares to try an explanation – with “unusual challenges” caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
However, the main reason for the poor quarterly figures is likely to be Amazon’s stake in the electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian. Shares in the Tesla competitor fell more than 65 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Amazon’s stock market value falls
Amazon has not made a net loss since 2015, so the current quarterly figures are making waves. And it probably won’t get much better for the time being: The group forecasts its operating profit for the current quarter in a range between a minus of one billion and a plus of three billion dollars.
The downward trend of the group is also reflected in the stock market. Amazon’s shares fell 10 percent overnight.