Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during the New York Times DealBook Summit in the Appel Room at the Jazz At Lincoln Center on November 30, 2022 in New York City.
Amazon’s revenue rose 13% to $143.1 billion in the third quarter. The company’s net income more than tripled to $9.9 billion, or 94 cents a share, from $2.9 billion, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Amazon’s earnings of 94 cents per share far exceeded the 58 cents expected by Wall Street.
CEO Andy Jassy has been in cost-cutting mode to address high levels of inflation and rising interest rates over the last year. Amazon carried out the largest layoffs in its history, cutting 27,000 jobs since last fall. The company also froze corporate hiring, and Jassy has looked to trim expenses in units across the company.
Amazon reported an operating margin of 7.8%, the highest since it reached a record of 8.2% in the first quarter of 2021. The company’s operating margin for the third quarter marks a significant increase over the 2% margin it reported a year ago.
“We remain positive on AMZN supported by continued improvements in the margin profile, with visibility into an AWS acceleration and clear LT AI tailwinds that will impact the model over time,” Jefferies analysts said in a note to investors on Friday.
Blair analysts said Amazon “handily” beat expectations for the quarter and saw real improvement in operating income growth. They added that the company is “taking back control of the generative AI narrative,” and that they saw positive signs around AWS’ growth rate.
“We believe shares offer defensive positioning in a worsening market at compelling value considering the longer-term growth and earnings power of the model, with still embedded optionality in the form of grocery, healthcare, and satellite technology,” they wrote Friday.
At Goldman Sachs, analysts said though there are some questions that remain about AWS’ reacceleration and the nature of the global consumer, they considered the company’s third-quarter report a “beat across the board.”
They added that Amazon’s risk vs. reward remains “skewed heavily in a positive direction.”
“Looking over a multi-year timeframe, we reiterate our view that Amazon will compound a mix of solid revenue trajectory with expanding margins as they deliver yield/returns on multiple-year investment cycles,” they wrote in a Friday note.
–CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Annie Palmer contributed to this report
Dogecoin shot higher on Tuesday night, extending its postelection surge after President-elect Donald Trump formally announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, which he referred to as “DOGE” in his statement.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, former Republican presidential candidate and Strive Asset Management co-founder, will lead the department, Trump said in a statement. Together, they “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Dogecoin was last up nearly 20%. It has been one of the biggest winners in the postelection rally, gaining 153% since election day compared to bitcoin’s 30% rise in the same period. It also shot past XRP this weekto become the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Dogecoin jumped after President-elect Donald Trump announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.”
Memecoins are seen as a gauge of retail interest and risk appetite in crypto. When memecoin activity ramps up, it usually indicates that retail investors are participating and have an appetite to speculate further out on the risk curve.
Trump initially floated the idea of an efficiency commission in September. Since then, Musk — who has called himself the “Dogefather” in the past and has been known to make public comments about the memecoin that influence its price — has posted on his social media platform X, referring to the commission as the “Department of Government Efficiency” or “D.O.G.E.”
Dogecoin gained relevance in 2021 following Musk’s endorsement and continuous hype on social media, which has since become a big catalyst for the coin. In May that year, Musk’s posts fueled dogecoin’s rally to its all-time high of 67 cents, per Coin Metrics. Though his appearance at the time on SNL, in which he called dogecoin “a hustle,” sent its price crashing down.
The rest of the crypto market was on pause from its postelection rally. Bitcoin was trading flat at about $87,000, after briefly touching $90,000 in late afternoon trading. Crypto stocks Coinbase and MicroStrategy were lower by 1% and 2%, respectively, in extended trading.
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Elon Musk embraces Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Oct. 5, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that Elon Musk and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy will lead an efficiency group when his second term begins in January.
Trump wrote in a post that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will “become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time.” He also said the group would, “pave the way” for his next administration to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Trump didn’t specify where cuts will take place or when the department may be formed. Congress hasn’t created or funded such an office. He said the group’s “work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026.”
Musk’s involvement in the envisioned group was previously promised by Trump and touted by the Tesla CEO, who spent an estimated $200 million backing the Republican nominee’s 2024 campaign, as a reason to put the former president back in the White House. Musk, who also runs defense contractor SpaceX, has reportedly been stationed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since Election Night.
Ramaswamy, who challenged Trump in the Republican primary, is co-founder of investment firm Strive Asset Management. He has opposed the widespread adoption of environmental, social and governance, or ESG, principles by companies.
Trump announced a number of other appointments Tuesday, including naming Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his pick for defense secretary and John Ratcliffe as CIA director.
The Spotify logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 4, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Spotify shares rose in extended trading Tuesday after the Swedish music streaming company issued a profit forecast for the fourth quarter that topped estimates.
Here’s how the company did, compared with what analysts expected:
Earnings per share: 1.45 euros vs. 1.72 euros expected by LSEG
Revenue: 3.99 billion euros vs. 4.02 billion euros expected by LSEG
Monthly active users (MAUs): 640 million vs. 639 million expected by StreetAccount
While the company’s earnings and revenue for the third quarter trailed estimates, investors focused instead on guidance for the current period.
Spotify said operating income in the fourth quarter will come in at 481 million euros, exceeding the average analyst estimate of 432.7 million euros, according to StreetAccount. MAUs will increase to 665 million, while analysts were expecting 659.3 million, based on a StreetAccount estimate.
Still, revenue guidance trailed estimates. The company said sales will reach 4.1 billion euros, below the average analyst estimate of 4.26 billion euros, according to LSEG.
Subscribers to Spotify Premium, the company’s ad-free membership service that allows users to select songs on an unlimited basis, increased 12% year over year to 252 million, slightly ahead of estimates.
Spotify shares rose about 8% after the report to $452.35 after rising 2.2% in regular trading. The stock has more than doubled in value this year.