Amazon Is Slowing. Should Investors Worry?
The e-commerce giant still dominates, but it’s losing ground in retail and cloud-computing services.
Slowing momentum at Amazon’s two key businesses mean new CEO Andy Jassy has his work cut out for him.
Photographer: BloombergJeff Bezos stepped down as chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. earlier this month after one of the most legendary runs in the history of business. The big question now is whether his successor, Andy Jassy, can keep the momentum going. Judging from the company’s latest earnings results, he has his work cut out for him.
Amazon late Thursday reported second-quarter earnings per share of $15.12, above the $12.28 Bloomberg consensus. The company’s $113.1 billion of revenue in the period was 27% higher than a year earlier, although slightly below expectations of $115.1 billion. But there are signs of bigger weakness ahead. For the current quarter ending in September, Amazon projects revenue growth of 10% to 16%, significantly lower than the 23% average analyst estimate. This subdued forecast sent Amazon’s stock price sliding more than 7% in after-hours trading.