Amazon posts first quarterly loss since 2015 as higher costs and lower sales hit bottom line
Shares in Amazon have plummeted after the e-commerce giant posted its first quarterly loss in seven years, as the firm faced a litany of challenges that led to higher costs and lower sales.
The Seattle headquartered firm posted its first quarterly loss since 2015, as staff shortages and inflationary pressures increased its costs and the firm suffered from lower online sales.
Shares in the firm dropped by more than 9 per cent in out-of-hours trading, as company chief executive Andy Jassy said Amazon’s efforts to cut costs and boost productivity may be slowed down by “ongoing inflationary and supply chain pressures.”
The company boss blamed the poor results on “the pandemic and subsequent war in Ukraine,” as he noted Amazon has now fixed its staffing crisis.
The results come as Amazon has faced a litany of challenges in recent months, after experiencing a surge in sales during the pandemic.
A shortage of workers linked to the Great Resignation saw Amazon forced to offer higher wages to attract new staff, as Amazon workers in New York also set up America’s first Amazon union.
Higher fuel prices also cut into consumers disposable income and made it more expensive for Amazon to deliver products.
Overall, the company posted a $3.8bn (£3bn) loss in Q1 2022, compared to a $8.9bn profit in the first quarter of last year.
Amazon’s lower online retail sales were offset by higher sales in its cloud computing business, as revenues from the firm’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) subsidiary jumped 37 per cent to $18.4bn.