Research archive for AMZN

I love a good infographic, especially when it shows where the world's attention is really going. YouTube, for example, has massive 2.5 billion monthly active user base, more than any other digital platform. That's even more impressive when you realise that YouTube isn't even available in China.

Last week, Amazon released some strong numbers for their first quarter. Revenues grew by 9% thanks to a solid push from AWS (+17%) and advertising (+18%). Online retail sales were up 5%.

The media are making quite a fuss about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' plans to sell around $5 billion worth of shares. Be careful not to form strong opinions based on the headlines you read; rather look into the details before getting carried away.

This week, Amazon will be launching 3 200 satellites into low-Earth orbit for what they call Project Kuiper. The satellites will beam down fast, affordable broadband services, targeting isolated communities around the world. Yes, this is a direct competitor to Starlink. Ironically, some of the satellites will be launched by SpaceX, but most will come from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' rocket company.

Amazon's dominance in the American retail landscape is unmatched. A YouGov survey shows that 96% of US adults recognise the brand - putting it on par with McDonald's, Pepsi, and Google. Meanwhile, 80% say they'd consider buying from Amazon when shopping.

Amazon has officially outpaced Walmart in quarterly revenue, reporting a record $187.8 billion last quarter, compared to Walmart's $180.6 billion. While the two retail giants have been competing for years, their business models are very different.

The last James Bond film came out in 2021. Since then, Amazon bought the franchise distributor, MGM, for $8.5 billion, but the purchase only gave Amazon 50% control and relegated them to being a passive partner when it came to artistic choices.

Capital expenditure by the US tech titans is a hot talking point, especially if you own Nvidia shares. Take a look at this image from App Economy Insights which looks at previous annual capex spend, and compares that to projections for 2025. Clearly, spending is not slowing down.

Amazon had good Q4 numbers out last week but the market seemed too focused on a modest deceleration in the fortunes of their AWS division, so the shares sold off by 4% the next day.

The Amazon Ads business has absolutely exploded. Last year it had sales of over $50 billion and has reached a point where demand has outstripped supply. In other words, there is not enough space on the top, sides and bottom of the Amazon website and app to put any more adverts.

On Tuesday, Amazon unveiled its new AI-training chip, called Trainium 2. They will use the hundreds of thousands of chips to create a giant supercomputer, which should be ready for use sometime next year. The first user of the supercomputer will be Anthropic, an AI startup which Amazon has invested $8 billion.

Amazon is doubling down on its partnership with Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude chatbot, with a fresh $4 billion investment, bringing its total funding to $8 billion. This deal strengthens ties between the two companies, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) becoming Anthropic's primary cloud and AI training partner.

Amazon is currently developing smart glasses for their delivery drivers, according to Reuters. The glasses will direct their staff during the final stages of a delivery, around and within buildings. The glasses will "provide turn-by-turn navigation on a small embedded screen."

Amazon reported an impressive quarter last week, showcasing the benefits of its well-diversified business model, cost-cutting and AI innovation. Total revenue rose 11% to $159 billion, surpassing estimates, driven by strong growth across Amazon's e-commerce, cloud services, and advertising operations.

The image below shows the average days it takes online retailers to deliver their orders versus Amazon. The gap between Amazon and the rest is just incredible. It is a true testament to the logistics juggernaut that Jeff Bezos and his team have built over the years.