HEBRON, Ky. — Climbing into a front-end loader Tuesday afternoon, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos officially broke ground on the e-commerce giant's new Prime Air hub.

"Let's move some dirt!" Bezos exclaimed, launching construction on the new $1.5 billion, 900-acre facility -- sitting just south of the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati International Airport.

Net sales increased 24% to $70.0 billion in the third quarter, compared with $56.6 billion in third quarter 2018. Excluding the $500 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 25% compared with third quarter 2018.

Operating income decreased to $3.2 billion in the third quarter, compared with operating income of $3.7 billion in third quarter 2018.

Net income decreased to $2.1 billion in the third quarter, or $4.23 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.9 billion, or $5.75 per diluted share, in third quarter 2018.

Amazon Reports Earnings Thursday. Here’s What To Expect.

Feb. 3, 2022

Keep in mind that Amazon’s September quarter results provided a negative surprise, with both reported sales, profits, and guidance falling short of Street estimates. The company projected December quarter revenue of between $130 billion and $140 billion, up 4% to 12%, short of the Street consensus estimate at the time of $142 billion. Amazon projects operating income for the quarter of between break-even and $3 billion. Street consensus estimates now call for revenue of $137.6 billion, with operating income of $2.4 billion and profits of $3.58 a share.

For the March quarter, the Street sees sales of $120.9 billion and profits of $9.50 a share. For all of 2022, the consensus view calls for revenue of $551 billion and profits of about $50 a share.

As Amazon has expanded over time, the company’s financial results have more moving parts. Street estimates call for revenue from the company’s core online stores business of $68.6 billion, up 3% from a year earlier, with third-party-seller services revenue of $31 billion, up 13.6% (that includes things like warehousing, logistics, and delivery services.) Those two elements of the Amazon story are still the heart of the company, and the market clearly seems to be discounting a disappointing holiday season.

But there are other elements to the story that could provide an offset. Amazon Web Services revenue is expected to grow 36% to $17.4 billion—and a strong performance by AWS could deflect some of the concerns about e-commerce softness. Note that both Microsoft and Alphabet reported strong growth for their own cloud-computing businesses in the quarter—Microsoft also projected that growth for its Azure cloud business would accelerate in the March quarter. Meanwhile, subscription services—basically Amazon Prime—are expected to grow 19% to $8.4 billion. Street estimates call for physical stores revenue of $4.4 billion, up 9%.

Also keep a close eye on what Amazon says about advertising revenue. Only recently broken out as a separate segment, the Street is projecting $9.3 billion, which would be up 30% sequentially. Meta’s swoon this morning—the stock has lost a quarter of its value—reflects ongoing concerns about the company’s ad business. But keep in mind that while Meta’s Facebook unit is impacted by Apple‘s move to bolster privacy on iOS devices, Amazon’s ad business isn’t reliant on the same kind of behavioral signals to discover consumer intent. In other words, Facebook has to figure out that you are hunting for a new laptop—but on Amazon, you actually search for “laptop,” and will see relevant ads as a result. Meta blames its soft ad outlook in part on macro issues—rising inflation and supply-chain shortages. But a strong ad result from Amazon would point to a shifting of ad dollars away from Facebook to Amazon and other platforms less reliant on using consumer behavior for targeting.

Board Approval of Stock Split

On March 9, 2022, the Board of Directors of Amazon.com, Inc. (the “Company”) approved a 20-for-1 split of the Company’s common stock to be effected through an amendment to the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amendment”). The Amendment will also effect a proportionate increase in the number of shares of authorized common stock.

The stock split and the proportionate authorized share increase are subject to shareholder approval of the Amendment at the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”), which is currently scheduled to take place on May 25, 2022. The Company’s definitive proxy statement relating to the Annual Meeting will include additional details regarding the Amendment.

Subject to shareholder approval of the Amendment, each Company shareholder of record at the close of business on May 27, 2022 will have 19 additional shares for every one share held as of such date reflected in their accounts on or about June 3, 2022. Trading is expected to begin on a split-adjusted basis on June 6, 2022.

Share Repurchase Authorization

On March 9, 2022, the Board of Directors also authorized the Company to repurchase up to $10 billion of the Company’s common stock. The program allows the Company to repurchase its shares opportunistically from time to time when it believes that doing so would enhance long-term shareholder value. The repurchase authorization does not have a fixed expiration. Purchases may be effected through one or more open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, transactions structured through investment banking institutions, or a combination of the foregoing. This stock repurchase authorization replaces the previous $5 billion stock repurchase authorization, approved by the Board of Directors in 2016, under which the Company had repurchased $2.12 billion of its shares.

Amazon Adds Grubhub Delivery to Prime Membership to Bulk Up Foods Business

July 6, 2022

Amazon.com Inc. agreed to add Grubhub to its suite of Prime services in the U.S., in a deal that also gives the e-commerce giant the option to acquire a small stake, the parent of the food-ordering company said.

Grubhub’s parent, Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com NV, said Amazon has an initial option to take a 2% stake in U.S.-based Grubhub, and U.S. Prime members can have their delivery fees waived from some restaurants. Amazon could bump up its total stake to 15% of Grubhub based on performance terms focused on adding new customers, Just Eat said.

Just Eat will still own Grubhub and will continue exploring a full or partial sale of Grubhub, it said. The deal will renew annually unless either Amazon or Just Eat terminates it and it is expected to materially add to Grubhub’s business next year, Just Eat said.

The deal brings Amazon further into food-related services through its Prime membership program. The online commerce giant has provided grocery benefits to Prime members under its Whole Foods Market division as a way to make its annual subscription program more valuable.

“The value of a Prime membership continues to grow with this offer,” said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime.

Amazon last year said that millions of Prime members in the U.K. and Ireland would get discounts through U.K. food delivery firm Deliveroo, in which Amazon invested in 2019.

Amazon will offer Prime members a subscription to Grubhub’s membership program for a year, which includes free delivery from a network of restaurants, as well as other discounts.

Grubhub and Amazon Delight U.S. Prime Members with Free Grubhub+ for Unlimited $0 Food Delivery from Restaurants

July 6, 2022

Amazon Prime members are accustomed to choosing from an expansive selection and getting fast, free delivery on the things they want the most. Now all Prime members in the United States can enjoy the same perks from their favorite restaurants with a free, year-long Grubhub+ membership trial. Starting today, Prime members in the U.S. can sign up for Grubhub+ for free and access unlimited $0 delivery fees from hundreds of thousands of restaurants on Grubhub for one year.

More than half (53%) of adults and nearly two-thirds (64%) of millennials admit that purchasing takeout and delivery food is “essential” to the way they live, but only one-third (38%) of Americans report using third-party delivery companies like Grubhub at least some of the time. Grubhub and Amazon are bringing more convenience to Prime members who are new to Grubhub, while adding even more value to their Prime membership, by complementing Prime’s fast, free delivery on millions of items, ultrafast grocery delivery, award-winning digital entertainment benefits and more with takeout from local restaurants.

“Both Grubhub and Amazon have transformed people’s lives by providing them with unprecedented choice and convenience,” said Ariella Kurshan, Senior Vice President of Growth, Grubhub. “With the new Grubhub and Amazon offering, Prime members now can enjoy free delivery from hundreds of thousands of restaurants across the country, when they sign up for a year of free Grubhub+. I’m thrilled that new Grubhub diners from Amazon can get even more delivered to their door with their Prime membership.”

“Being able to give Prime members one year of Grubhub+ and no delivery fees from restaurants is our way of saying ‘thank you’,” said Jamil Ghani, Vice President, Amazon Prime. “The value of a Prime membership continues to grow with this offer, and this year is shaping up to be a great time to enjoy the convenience, savings, fun — and deliciousness — that membership provides.”

Black Friday surprise: Jeff Bezos tells people not to buy cars, refrigerators and other big-ticket items. Critics call him out.

....