Amazon delivers mixed financial results in quarterly earnings report

Amazon offered a mixed picture of its financial health on Thursday in its quarterly earnings report.

The e-commerce company gave a cautious sales forecast for the current fourth quarter, which encompasses the critical holiday shopping period, after delivering fiscal third-quarter results that came in below Wall Street analysts’ expectations ^[1].

Key facts * Amazon delivered fiscal third-quarter results that were below Wall Street analysts’ expectations ^[1]. * The company issued a cautious sales forecast for the fourth quarter holiday shopping period ^[1]. * Amazon shares were down more than 6% in after-market trading following the release ^[1]. * Investors are monitoring if Amazon's significant spending on artificial intelligence is beginning to yield results ^[1].

What was the market reaction? Amazon shares were down more than 6% in after-market trading when the results were released as investors focused on the core business ^[1]. The report comes as investors closely watch the company's quarterly earnings to determine if its large expenditures on artificial intelligence are starting to pay off ^[1].

What are the company's capacity and hiring plans? Jassy told investors this past summer that even at the $220bn level, Amazon will not have enough capacity to meet all of its customers’ demands this year ^[1]. To prepare for the upcoming shopping period, the tech company announced earlier this month that it would hire 300,000 US seasonal workers, which is an increase from the 250,000 workers hired last year ^[1].

How does this compare to other tech giants? The latest earnings report from Alphabet late Wednesday raised alarm bells when it reported weaker growth for the summer than analysts expected ^[1]. The company behind Google and YouTube also reported burning through more cash during the latest quarter, according to a measure called free cashflow, after its purchases of property and equipment topped $51bn ^[1]. Its stock plummeted on Thursday, erasing half a trillion dollars in from the company’s total value ^[1].