Despite plenty of shoppers turning to Amazon this holiday season, the company’s profits were less than jolly in the final three months of 2022. In an earnings statement Thursday, the company reported a steep drop off, while still striking an optimistic tone about the future.
Amazon’s revenues were up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2021, coming in at $149.2 billion. However, the e-commerce giant posted earnings of 3 cents per share, down from $1.39 in the final three months of 2021. This was lower than analyst estimates of 17 cents per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
The results capped off a year of promises to investors that Amazon would cut costs created by its much-expanded fulfillment infrastructure. The company announced layoffs in November 2022, and it later emerged that job cuts would affect 18,000 roles.
“Our relentless focus on providing the broadest selection, exceptional value, and fast delivery drove customer demand in our Stores business during the fourth quarter that exceeded our expectations” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. “We’re also encouraged by the continued progress we’re making in reducing our cost to serve in the operations part of our Stores business.”
Amazon shares were down 3.6%, at $109.05, in recent after-hours trading, after they’d closed regular trading up more than 7%.
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