Amazon headquarters.

Amazon posts strong Q2 results

Despite facing some headwinds from inflation, Amazon's net sales increased 7% to $121.2 billion in the second quarter, compared with $113.1 billion in second quarter 2021.
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Despite facing the headwinds caused by continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy and transportation costs, Amazon's net sales for second quarter ended June 30, 2022, increased 7% to $121.2 billion, compared with $113.1 billion in second quarter 2021. Excluding the $3.6 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 10% compared with second quarter 2021.

Amazon's operating income decreased to $3.3 billion in the second quarter, compared with $7.7 billion in second quarter 2021.

The retailer's net loss was $2 billion in the second quarter, or 20 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $7.8 billion, or 76 cents per diluted share, in Q2 2021. Second quarter 2022 net loss includes a pre-tax valuation loss of $3.9 billion included in non-operating expense from the company’s common stock investment in Rivian Automotive.

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Amazon also reported that its operating cash flow decreased 40% to $35.6 billion for the trailing 12 months, compared with $59.3 billion for the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2021.

“Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. “We’re also seeing revenue accelerate as we continue to make Prime even better for members, both investing in faster shipping speeds, and adding unique benefits such as free delivery from Grubhub for a year, exclusive access to NFL Thursday Night Football games starting Sept. 15 and releasing the highly anticipated series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Sept. 2.”

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Amazon also reported that Prime members worldwide shopped more and saved more this Prime Day than any other Prime Day event, purchasing more than 300 million items and saving more than $1.7 billion. On July 12 and July 13, Prime members worldwide purchased more than 100,000 items per minute, and some of the best-selling categories were Amazon Devices, Consumer Electronics and Home. Amazon Devices had a record-breaking Prime Day, selling more devices than any other Prime Day event, the company said.

Additionally, Prime continued to provide even more value to members around the world. In the U.S., Amazon introduced new offers for Prime members, including a free one-year Grubhub+ membership, a new year-round 20% discount on select everyday essentials at Amazon Fresh stores and exclusive deals on home entertainment items and merchandise to help prepare for NFL Thursday Night Football. Additionally, Prime Student members get six months free of a LinkedIn Premium subscription.

Amazon shared that it introduced new ways for customers to support and discover small businesses selling in Amazon’s store, including the Small Business Badge, which helps customers find and shop products from small business brands and artisans, and This Is Small Business, a new podcast dedicated to sharing stories from small business owners about pivotal moments in starting, building and scaling their businesses. This year also was the biggest Prime Day event for Amazon’s selling partners, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses, whose sales growth in Amazon’s store outpaced Amazon’s first-party sales. Customers spent over $3 billion on more than 100 million small business items included in the Support Small Businesses to Win Big sweepstakes, which offered customers the chance to win prizes when shopping from small businesses leading up to Prime Day.

Amazon also said that it continues to invent new fashion shopping experiences for customers, launching Virtual Try-On for Shoes, where shoppers can virtually try on thousands of sneaker styles, and Luxury Stores at Amazon in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Amazon Style, Amazon’s first-ever physical store for apparel, opened in Glendale, Calif., to help customers discover new looks through a personalized shopping experience. Amazon Style uses machine learning algorithms to produce tailored recommendations for customers as they shop. In the fitting room, customers can use touchscreens to browse more options and request additional styles and sizes. Amazon also expanded its selection of size-inclusive fashion to include a collection from designer Jonathan Cohen and a new co-brand between Amazon and Making The Cut Season Two winner Andrea Pitter called TEREA.

Amazon announced that later this year, its customers in Lockeford, Calif., and College Station, Texas, will be among the first to receive Prime Air drone deliveries in the U.S. Customers will have the option to receive free and fast drone delivery on thousands of everyday items—the largest selection of items ever to be available for drone delivery, the company said.

Amazon continues to collaborate with leading retailers and stadiums to equip third-party locations with Just Walk Out technology for checkout-free shopping and Amazon One for palm recognition and payment service. Recent store openings include the Walk-Off Market food and beverage store at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and the Hudson Nonstop store in Nashville International Airport. Additionally, three stores will open at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field later this year. The combination of technologies gives shoppers the option to enter a store by inserting their credit card at the entry gate or hovering their palm over an Amazon One device. Once inside, shoppers can take what they want and leave without stopping to check out.

Amazon said that it continued to expand its grocery store footprint by opening 12 Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S. and the U.K., and introduced new innovations to improve the shopping experience for customers, including the next generation Amazon Dash Cart. Amazon Dash Cart is a smart shopping cart that uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to help identify items placed in a cart, so customers can skip the checkout line when they are done shopping. With the new Dash Cart, which is also expanding to its first Whole Foods Market store, shoppers can fit more items into their cart, bring the cart to their car, and easily search for specific items on the cart’s screen.

Amazon announced Store Analytics, a new service that provides brands with aggregated and anonymized insights about the performance of their products, promotions and ad campaigns in applicable stores. Store Analytics is available at Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores that are enabled with Just Walk Out technology and Amazon Dash Carts.

Lastly, Amazon said that it continues to improve its shopping experience for U.S. customers who use SNAP EBT, the federal program that helps families purchase groceries. The company expanded the program so that beneficiaries in 48 states and Washington, D.C.—covering more than 99% of SNAP households—can now use their SNAP benefits to shop for groceries at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market.

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