Amazon delivers more than 10 billion items a year. Or $14.99 to buy. Free with Kindle Unlimited membership. And, 28% of the shoppers who increased purchases from other sites said they planned to continue doing so after the health crisis ends.Amazon remains the go-to site for online shoppers, but challenges are mounting. Amazon.com: e-commerce. Prime has evolved since then to also include exclusive offers at Whole Foods grocery stores, access to award-winning TV shows, access to their music streaming service called Amazon Music, and much more: Among them, 62% said they were buying more from other online sellers - primarily Walmart and Target. Given our scale, the potential to reduce packaging waste is significant. E-commerce has evolved in the last 20 years, but it was Amazon that did the most to alter how we buy, sell, and transact. “Last month began with the promise of reopening America; however, the Covid-19 crisis is now invading parts of the country that successfully avoided the severe impact already experienced by the hardest hit states, a development that we expect will support continued strong order patterns at Amazon,” he writes. In reporting the last quarter, Amazon said the company would normally have expected $4 billion in operating income for the second quarter, ended in June, but that it expected to spend that much or even more on expenses tied to the pandemic.Barron’s brings retirement planning and advice to you in a weekly wrap-up of our articles about preparing for life after work.RBC Capital’s Mark Mahaney expects second-quarter results to beat Street estimates, but he cautions that third-quarter guidance is likely to bracket the current consensus, noting that many Street estimates don’t recognize that the company’s big Prime Day promotion has been shifted to the fourth quarter from the third quarter.This is going to be an odd earnings quarter for Amazon.Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reservedhttps://www.barrons.com/articles/amazon-earnings-thursday-web-srevices-cloud-e-commerce-covid-pandemic-51595965717In an earnings preview note, Monness Crespi Hardt’s Brian White repeats his Buy rating and $3,500 price target on the stock. Google has unveiled its plan to compete with Amazon in the online marketplace through commission-free shopping. Novel coronavirus infections are raging in the United States, a market that accounts for about 70% of its retail business, and a $600 weekly pandemic unemployment payment could expire and crimp consumer’s spending.Still, some analysts question whether Amazon’s stock can keep climbing from its current $3,000 level.The world’s biggest e-retailer - a relatively rare high-growth investment thanks to its lucrative cloud computing business - is in a position to gobble up market share as virus-weary shoppers shift purchasing online and business shutdowns hammer store-based retailers.Amazon increased investment after the pandemic-fueled spike in online shopping caused disruptions ranging from unavailable merchandise to long wait times - sending shoppers into the arms of rivals Walmart Inc and Target Corp. 4.5 out of 5 stars 21. The company is unveiling another initiative to compete more effectively with Amazon’s e-commerce business.
00. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com.This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. The Street’s consensus earnings estimate is $2.09 a share, but estimates vary from $3.64 at the high end to a loss of $2.38 a share at the low end. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.White sees 29% growth in North American e-commerce in the quarter, and 33% growth for the Amazon Web Services business. Amazon launched Amazon Prime in 2005 and positioned it as a membership service that offered two-day free shipping and other benefits. “We believe the market has moved back to a ‘growth-over-profitability’ mindset,” he said.Meanwhile, Walmart is launching a rival to Amazon’s $119 a year Prime subscription that includes perks like free shipping.Shares are up 25% since April 30, when Amazon warned that expenses for COVID-19 testing and other safety and staffing measures could outpace surging revenue in the second quarter. Under the purview of e-commerce companies, both eBay and Amazon () … The government had allowed e-commerce firms like Amazon and Flipkart, nearly six weeks after the beginning of lockdown, to deliver non-essential … The electronic commerce (e-commerce) movement is bigger than ever and only shows signs of becoming bigger.
“We recognize there is a high level of uncertainty on costs due to the pandemic, and therefore a higher risk of (Amazon) falling short” on operating income results, Jefferies analysts said in a note. Will investors look past Amazon’s COVID-19 e-commerce costs? “In this new reality, we believe Amazon holds the key capabilities, vast global infrastructure and financial strength necessary to support the needs of people and organizations around the world, while also positioning Amazon as a major beneficiary of accelerated digital transformation in the aftermath of this pandemic.”For the current quarter, the Street consensus is for revenue of $86.3 billion and profit of $4.37 a share.This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.