The online commerce giant sees its turnover increase by 9 %, to 149.2 billion dollars, in the fourth quarter of 2022, in a context where inflation weighs on consumer spending.
by Alexandre Piquard
In a world closer to recession than boom, Amazon is maintained: the company founded by Jeff Bezos published, Thursday, February 2, a turnover up 9 %, at 149.2 billion Dollars (137 billion euros) for the fourth quarter of 2022. Its growth is certainly relatively low compared to the 38 % known in 2020 due to the explosion of e-commerce in the full pandemic of COVID-19. And its progression remains slowed down compared to the 22 % displayed in 2021. But the figure published Thursday has exceeded the forecasts of analysts and Amazo, and is identical to that of the whole year 2022: + 9 %. It would have even been 12 % if the company had not experienced negative exchange effects, assured the management.
Profitability has certainly become negative from an accounting point of view: $ 2.7 billion (2.4 billion euros) of net loss in 2022, against $ 33.4 billion in profit Net in 2021. But a large part is explained by the “fluctuation” of the valuation of Amazon’s participation in the automaker Rivian (its contribution to the results increased from $ 11.8 billion to – 12.7 billion ). Operational profit has increased from 24 to 12 billion dollars over the year.
To put it into perspective, Amazon specifies that it had to take the fourth quarter of $ 2.7 billion in restructuring costs linked to the economies initiated since the summer. In an unprecedented movement, the company has notably reduced the surface of the premises or paused the deployment of Amazon Fresh grocery stores, then announced the unprecedented dismissal of 18,000 people in early January. The CEO, Andy Jassy, has also promised, in a conference with investors, that he would find other deposits of savings in his organization that has become gigantic: to meet demand during the pandemic, the surface of warehouses Was doubled, as well as the number of employees, at 1.5 million, while a delivery network for the last kilometer “the size of that of UPS” was deployed, he recalled.
signs of breath on the side of AWS
On its historic profession, e-commerce, Amazon is, with its low prices, well positioned for consumers who “pay more attention to their expenses due to inflation”, assured Mr. Jassy. Right up 13 % in the United States, activity is falling 8 % in the rest of the world and is in deficit. But the management is displayed “confident”, while the income drawn from the premium subscriptions (fast delivery, video, music, etc.) are up 13 %.
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