Amazonis heading into the holiday season talking about cost cuts rather than sales growth. The Wall Street Journal reports that the e-commerce leader is projecting that sales in the current quarter would be far below expectations, sending a new shock wave across the retail sector and offering a stark sign of how shifting economic forces are battering companies that thrived during the pandemic.
Amazon’s sales last quarter rose 15% from a year earlier, while its $2.9 billion net profit marked its first quarterly profit this year but a 9% decline from the year before.
The company also jolted observers with its projection for revenue of $140 billion to $148 billion in the fourth quarter — analysts had expected more than $155 billion. CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon is building “a stronger cost structure for the business moving forward.”
