What's Going On With Amazon.Com Stock Today?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could prosecute Amazon.com Inc AMZN over antitrust claims.

Amazon's legal team engaged in a video conference with FTC officials on August 15, typically a final effort to avoid a court battle. 

However, Amazon did not propose any specific concessions during this crucial meeting, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The FTC, which has been investigating Amazon's practices for several years, plans to file its lawsuit against the tech giant later this month. 

The investigation has focused on whether Amazon gives preferential treatment to its products on its platforms and how it treats third-party sellers.

The impending lawsuit will likely target various aspects of Amazon's business, including its Fulfillment by Amazon logistics program and pricing practices by third-party sellers on Amazon.com. 

Amazon allegedly leverages its power to reward online merchants that use its logistics. The case has the potential to lead to the breakup of the company.

During the August meeting, Amazon's legal representatives argued to the FTC commissioners, including Chair Lina Khan, that any significant changes to Amazon's operations could result in higher prices and slower customer shipping speeds.

One significant point of contention was the lack of clarity from the FTC regarding what remedies it would consider acceptable. 

Amazon had urged the agency to provide such guidance, but it remains uncertain whether concessions from the company could have averted the impending lawsuit.

The FTC has investigated Amazon for potential anticompetitive conduct over several aspects of its business, including its marketplace, Prime subscription service, and cloud computing.

In May, the FTC prosecuted Amazon in two separate user privacy-related cases for failing to delete data about children collected by its Alexa speakers and illegally spying on users of its Ring doorbells and cameras. Amazon agreed to pay $30.8 million to resolve the cases.

Meanwhile, Amazon undertook initiatives to dodge the FTC scrutiny, like significantly reducing its private-label operation and poaching several staffers from the FTC.

The stock has gained 60% YTD. In August, Amazon reported Q2 revenue growth of 11% year-over-year to $134.4 billion, which beat the consensus of $131.54 billion—the EPS of 65 cents per share, beat analyst estimates of 34 cents.

Price Action: AMZN shares closed lower by 0.62% at $137.27 on Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.