not vested
Amazon:
Amazon AMZN posted revenue of $89 billion against estimates of $81 billion, with the actual results rising 40% year-over-year.
Amazon Web Services revenue came in at $10.8 billion, missing estimates of $11 billion, but still growing 28%. The strength was seen in an explosive e-commerce result, which got a boost from the at-home environment.
Some may have been skeptical that this tailwind was one-time and may not be appropriate to be modeled into estimates for multiple years out.
But Amazon tempered that fear, issuing guidance for the third quarter that calls for $90 billion in revenue, up 30% year-over-year.
That's just above where revenue had been growing in the past few quarters. Analysts were looking for Q3 revenue of $86 billion.
Amazon also sometimes favors customer acquisition and the ability to meet demand over profitability over the short-term. But against expectations for an operating margin of 1.4%, the company delivered a 6.5% margin and guided for strength in profitability ahead. Without safety-related costs, the margin would have been in the double digits.
Earnings per share for the reported quarter was $10.30 against estimates of $5.70, with the actual result growing 97%.
"COVID-19 has been like injecting Amazon with a growth hormone and is driving sales expansion in ways that even the rollout of one-day Prime shipping was not able to," wrote D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Tom Forte in a note.
And a raised price target by 15% came from RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney, who lifed his target multiple on 2022 EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax and non-cash expenses).
Up 4% Wednesday, Amazon trades at just under 100 times next year's earnings, although investors are becoming more willing to pay that multiple as the company's growth opportunities relentlessly expand.
Source: The Street