Amazon expected to weather the supply chain storm with third-quarter results
Amazon is expected to report strong results this evening, as the company shows its gearing up for Christmas with over 300,000 new global roles, including seasonal hires and corporate workers.
Analysts suggest the online retailer will to post quarterly earnings of $8.72 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -29.5%.
Shares have fluctuated over the past year, and have provided a total return of 5.3 per cent over the past year, well below the S&P 500’s total return of 34.5 per cent.
Revenues are expected to be $111.85bn (£81.3bn), up 16.3 per cent from the year-ago quarter.
Credit Suisse analysts are confident in Amazon’s ability to tackle supply-chain challenges, and said: “We believe that Amazon was already leaning on vendors to send in additional inventory even before the brunt of the pandemic had arrived in its operating regions last year.” This is the reassurance that many investors will be looking for.
Another key area to look out for will be the revenue generated by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s high-margin cloud computing business.
It still comprises a relatively small share of the company’s overall revenue, but it generates the majority of Amazon’s operating income. Analysts are expecting AWS revenue to rise, but at a slower pace than in the previous quarter.