By Sam Boughedda
Tech giant Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares are down over 20% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company released its third-quarter earnings with revenue and guidance missing analyst consensus expectations.
Amazon reported earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.06 better than the analyst estimate of $0.22, with revenue for the quarter coming in at $127.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $127.76 billion.
Amazon explained that its net sales took a $5 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates. Operating income declined to $2.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $4.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
"In the past four months, employees across our consumer businesses have worked relentlessly to put together compelling Prime Member Deal Events with our eighth annual Prime Day and the brand new Prime Early Access Sale in early October. The customer response to both events was quite positive, and it's clear that particularly during these uncertain economic times, customers appreciate Amazon's continued focus on value and convenience," said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO.
However, he added that given the current macroeconomic environment, the firm will be balancing its investments to "be more streamlined."
While the earnings numbers were mixed, Amazon's revenue guidance was below expectations. The company sees Q4 2022 revenue between $140 billion and $148 billion, versus the consensus of $155.1 billion, which anticipates an unfavorable impact of approximately 460 basis points from foreign exchange rates. The company sees operating income between $0 and $4 billion.