Amazon Falls After Missing Sales Forecast

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN shares have taken a slight hit after the company’s third-quarter earnings release.

Q3 Highlights

• Sales totaled $56.576 billion, missing estimates of $57.1 billion.
• Sales increased 29.33 percent from the third quarter of 2017.
• Operating cash flow increased 57 percent to $26.6 billion.
• Net income increased to $2.9 billion, compared to $256 million in third-quarter of 2017.
• Amazon Web Services Q3 sales were up 46 percent year-over-year to $6.68 billion.

“Amazon Business has now reached a $10 billion annual sales run rate and is serving millions of private and public-sector organizations in eight countries,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO.

“And we’re not slowing down – Amazon Business is adding customers rapidly, including large educational institutions, local governments, and more than half of the Fortune 100. These organizations are choosing Amazon Business because it increases transparency into business spending and streamlines purchasing, with increased control. The team is doing a fantastic job building and innovating for customers.”

Q4 Guidance

Amazon anticipates fourth-quarter sales to reach between $66.5 billion and $72.5 billion, compared to a $73.89 billion estimate. Fourth-quarter operating income is expected to fall between $2.1 billion and $3.6 billion.

“This guidance anticipates an unfavorable impact of approximately 80 basis points from foreign exchange rates,” the press release said.

Amazon shares were down 4.7 percent to $1,697 at time of publication Thursday afternoon.

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