Amazon Shares Plunge on Forecast for Sluggish Holiday Sales
- Shares tumble after disappointing forecast by e-commerce giant
- Expenses rise faster than revenue for fifth straight quarter
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Amazon.com Inc., shocking Wall Street, projected the slowest holiday-quarter growth in the company’s history, sending the shares tumbling about 11% Friday morning.
The Seattle-based company, which reaped record profits during the pandemic, said sales during the current period will rise just 2% to 8% as shoppers reduce their spending in the face of economic uncertainty. Either figure would be the slowest increase ever for Amazon’s “Peak” season, which usually finds warehouse employees rushing to get orders out on time. And the e-commerce giant’s other businesses aren’t riding to the rescue. Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing division, and the advertising unit each reported muted third-quarter revenue growth by their lofty standards.