SHARE OF THE WEEK: Amazon’s luck could go from bad to worse as it prepares to announce its fourth quarter results
Amazon’s luck could go from bad to worse next week as it prepares to announce its fourth quarter results.
High inflation and a fragile economic outlook meant retail sales fell short of expectations in its latest quarterly results, and concerns are much the same as it reports numbers for the three months to Dec. 31 .
Although analysts expect higher quarterly revenue of £117bn after Prime Day and Christmas sales, growth is expected to be slower than in previous years.
The e-commerce giant has already gone on the defensive announcing that it will cut its workforce by 18,000 people in a bid to cut costs.
Andy Jassy, chief executive, said in the memo earlier this month that annual planning “has been more challenging given the uncertain economy and we have been hiring rapidly over the past few years.”
The company is also closing some Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, focusing on the core e-commerce and cloud business.
Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Amazon continues to face unnecessary headwinds.
These include rising costs and tightening consumer spending, she said.
Lund-Yates added: “It will be important to keep an eye on the outlook statement as it relates to demand. With suspicions that interest rate hikes could start to slow down, there is a chance that some positivity is emerging.
