Amazon beat a Wall Street earnings estimate for the second quarter but came in short of a sales estimate despite substantial revenue gains.
For the second quarter, Amazon posted a net income of $7.78 billion, or $15.12 per diluted share, compared with $5.24 billion, or $10.30 per diluted share, in the year earlier quarter.
Amazon topped a Yahoo Finance-published analyst average earnings per diluted share estimate of $12.22.
Net sales increased 27% to $113.1 billion in the quarter year over year, the company reported, adding that, excluding the $2.5 billion favorable impacts from changes in foreign exchange rates, net sales increased 24% versus the 2020 period, Amazon stated. Net product sales were $58 billion versus $50.24 billion in the year-previous quarter. Sales fell short of Yahoo Finance’s published estimate of $115.07 billion.
North American net sales were $67.55 billion versus $55.44 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Amazon company operating income reached $7.7 billion from $5.84 billion in the year-before period, the company stated, as North American operating income advanced to $3.15 billion from $2.14 billion.
Among the highlights of the quarter, as characterized by Amazon:
- Prime members in 20 countries shopped more and saved more this Prime Day, June 21 and 22, than any previous Prime Day, purchasing more than 250 million items. In the two-week lead-up to Prime Day, customers spent $1.9 billion on products from third-party sellers during the Spend $10, Get $10 promotion, more than double the activity during the 2020 Prime Day small business promotion.
- Amazon launched the Black Business Accelerator, committing $150 million over four years to help Black business owners and entrepreneurs succeed as third-party selling partners.
- The company added five new certifications to its Climate Pledge Friendly program to help shoppers find more sustainable products across grocery, household and beauty. Amazon customers can now shop for products that are Animal Welfare Approved, EWG Verified, and Regenerative Organic Certified, as well as for those certified by Higg Index Materials and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice program.
- Amazon launched the Internet Famous storefront, described as a curated selection of the top trending products on social media and showcasing immersive content that allows customers to discover brands across multiple categories while engaging with favorite influencers.
- The company introduced its first Brand Protection Report, which detailed Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting efforts and progress in driving counterfeits to zero in its store after investing $700 million to protect customers and sellers in its marketplace and to stop bad actors before they list products for sale.
As 2021 proceeds, Amazon is looking forward to building off its actions in the pandemic and building business across the enterprise, with some emphasis on its Amazon Web Services organization.
“Over the past 18 months, our consumer business has been called on to deliver an unprecedented number of items, including PPE, food, and other products that helped communities around the world cope with the difficult circumstances of the pandemic. At the same time, AWS has helped so many businesses and governments maintain business continuity, and we’ve seen AWS growth reaccelerate as more companies bring forward plans to transform their businesses and move to the cloud,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said in announcing the financial results.”
