Amazon Revenue Jumps 13%

The e-commerce titan this week announced revenue of $143.1 billion for the quarter ending in September, showing a 13% rise from the same period last year and outstripping analysts’ estimates.

The retailer reported quarterly profits of $9.9 billion, also beating estimates. Shares for Amazon jumped more than 3% immediately after the earnings report Thursday, before giving up some of the initial gains. Amazon stock has swelled 40% in 2023 alone, comprehensively beating both the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

Amazon’s strong sales growth this year comes after a tough 2022 for the company, and broader tech sector, that was marked by deep cost-containment efforts. In March, Amazon said it was slashing 9,000 jobs in addition to the 18,000 layoffs that the company had confirmed in January.

The mass layoffs came after Amazon saw demand surge in the early days of the pandemic as more people pivoted to online shopping, ordering goods through e-commerce, amid lockdowns and restrictions, while the virus shuttered businesses. The company then saw demand slip last year as pandemic restrictions began to ease, and rising inflation and other macroeconomic worries dampened consumer spending.

Amazon’s strong revenue growth also comes on the heels of encouraging quarterly sales growth reports from fellow tech giants Microsoft, Google and Meta – signaling that big tech companies are continuing their comeback and defying fears of near-term economic weakness fueled in part by high interest rates.