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SEATTLE — Amazon reported a 7% increase in net sales, to $121.2 billion, for the second quarter, beating analysts’ estimates. The company added that when the $3.6 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter is excluded, net sales increased 10% compared with the second quarter of 2021.
The company also reported a net loss of $2 billion for the quarter ended June 30. That compares to net income of $7.8 billion in last year’s second quarter. Amazon said this year’s net loss for the quarter includes a pre-tax valuation loss of $3.9 billion included in non-operating expenses from the company’s common stock investment in Rivian Automotive Inc.
“Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we’re making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement. “We’re also seeing revenue accelerate as we continue to make Prime even better for members, both investing in faster shipping speeds, and adding unique benefits such as free delivery from Grubhub for a year, exclusive access to NFL Thursday Night Football games starting September 15, and releasing the highly anticipated series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on September 2.”
Looking ahead, Amazon said net sales in the third quarter are expected to be between $125.0 billion and $130.0 billion, which would represent growth of between 13% and 17% compared with last year’s third quarter. Operating income is expected to be between $0 and $3.5 billion, compared with $4.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
Amazon said that notable developments in the company’s retail businesses during the quarter included:
- Prime members worldwide shopped more and saved more this Prime Day than in any previous Prime Day event, purchasing more than 300 million items and saving more than $1.7 billion. On July 12 and July 13, Prime members worldwide purchased more than 100,000 items per minute, and some of the best-selling categories were Amazon Devices, Consumer Electronics, and Home.
- In the U.S., Amazon introduced new offers for Prime members, including a free one-year Grubhub+ membership, a new year-round 20% discount on select everyday essentials at Amazon Fresh stores, and exclusive deals on home entertainment items and merchandise to help prepare for NFL Thursday Night Football. Additionally, Prime Student members get six months free of a LinkedIn Premium subscription.
- Amazon continues to invent new fashion shopping experiences for customers, launching Virtual Try-On for Shoes, where shoppers can virtually try on thousands of sneaker styles, and Luxury Stores at Amazon in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, where customers can shop established and emerging luxury fashion brands online. Amazon Style, Amazon’s first-ever physical store for apparel, opened in Glendale, California, to help customers discover new looks through a personalized shopping experience. Amazon Style uses machine learning algorithms to produce tailored recommendations for customers as they shop. In the fitting room, customers can use touchscreens to browse more options and request additional styles and sizes. Amazon also expanded its selection of size-inclusive fashion to include a collection from designer Jonathan Cohen and a new co-brand between Amazon and Making The Cut Season Two winner Andrea Pitter called TEREA.
- Amazon announced that later this year, Amazon customers in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, will be among the first to receive Prime Air drone deliveries in the U.S. Customers will have the option to receive free and fast drone delivery on thousands of everyday items—the largest selection of items ever to be available for drone delivery.
- Amazon continues to collaborate with leading retailers and stadiums to equip third-party locations with the company’s Just Walk Out technology for checkout-free shopping and Amazon One for palm recognition and payment service. Recent store openings include the Walk-Off Market food and beverage store at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and the Hudson Nonstop store in Nashville International Airport. Additionally, three stores will open at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field later this year. The combination of technologies gives shoppers the option to enter a store by inserting their credit card at the entry gate or hovering their palm over an Amazon One device. Once inside, shoppers can take what they want and leave without stopping to check out.
- Amazon continued to expand its grocery store footprint by opening 12 Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S. and the UK, and introduced new innovations to improve the shopping experience for customers, including the next-generation Amazon Dash Cart, a smart shopping cart that uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to help identify items placed in a cart, so customers can skip the checkout line when they are done shopping. With the new Dash Cart, which is also expanding to its first Whole Foods Market store, shoppers can fit more items into their cart, bring the cart to their car, and easily search for specific items on the cart’s screen.
- Amazon announced Store Analytics, a new service that provides brands with aggregated and anonymized insights about the performance of their products, promotions, and ad campaigns in applicable stores. Store Analytics is available at Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. that are enabled with Just Walk Out technology and Amazon Dash Carts.
- Amazon said it continues to improve its shopping experience for U.S. customers who use SNAP EBT, the federal program that helps families purchase groceries. The company expanded the program so that beneficiaries in 48 states and Washington, D.C.—covering more than 99% of SNAP households—can now use their SNAP benefits to shop for groceries at Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market.
