New top story from Time: Amazon’s Sales Growth Slows as the Pandemic Shopping Surge Eases

https://ift.tt/2V6uUgP

NEW YORK — The world’s return to almost normalcy is slowing down Amazon’s pandemic-induced sales surge.

The online behemoth on Thursday posted better-than-expected second-quarter profits. But it delivered sales results that came in short of expectations and offered a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.

Amazon said that revenue will be in the range of $106 billion to $112 billion for the third quarter. Analysts were looking for $119.3 billion.

Shares in Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. fell more than 7% in after-market trading following.

Amazon is one of the few retailers that has prospered during the pandemic. As physical stores selling non-essential goods like clothing temporarily or permanently closed, people stuck at home turned to Amazon for everything from groceries to cleaning supplies.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said the slowdown in sales growth is a result of the company lapping against last year’s huge pandemic-induced COVID-19 shopping binges. The slowdown also reflects that people, particularly in Europe and the U.S., are more mobile and are doing other things besides shopping online, he added.

When the pandemic hit and lockdowns began in March 2020, it took some time for Amazon to add more workers and expand its capacity to meet a surge in shopping. By May 2020, the company’s revenue growth rate jumped in the 35% to 40% range from what had been a 20% to 21% range during the pre-pandemic days. It remained at that level through the first quarter of this year, when its revenue growth hit 41%.

Excluding its annual Prime Day event, held in June this year, Amazon’s year-over-year percentage growth rate has dropped into the mid-teens. Its revenue guidance for the current quarter now forecasts a range of 10% to 16% growth. Amazon executives say a more accurate way of assessing its growth rate is on a two-year compounded annual rate, which remains at a hefty 25% to 30%.

Olsavsky told reporters that rising coronavirus infections linked to the delta variant are pushing the company to get more workers vaccinated. It’s also working with local authorities on safety measures. He said that could mean requiring workers to wear masks in some areas, even if vaccinated.

“The bigger goal is to stamp this out and get people vaccinated and have a successful return to life,” Olsavsky said.

During the three-month period ended June 30, the company reported a profit of $7.78 billion, or $15.12 per share, compared with $5.24 billion, or $10.30 a share, during the year-ago period. Revenue jumped 27% to $113.08 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet on average expected $115.42 billion in quarterly revenue and per-share earnings of $12.28.

Besides online shopping, Amazon’s other businesses expanded, too. Sales at its cloud-computing business, which helps power the online operations of Netflix, McDonald’s and other companies, grew 37% in the quarter. And at its unit that includes its advertising business, where brands pay to get their products to show up first when shoppers search on the site, sales rose 87%.

Amazon held its Prime Day from June 21 to June 22, the earliest it had ever held the sales event, because it didn’t want any distractions from the Tokyo Olympics. Last year, Amazon postponed Prime Day to October because of the pandemic and used it to kick off holiday shopping early.

The quarter that ended June 30 was the company’s last with founder Jeff Bezos as CEO. He stepped down to become executive chairman in early July. Andrew Jassy, who headed its cloud-computing unit, Amazon Web Services, succeeded him.

Amazon continues to add more businesses to its empire even as regulators around the world scrutinize the company’s business practices.

In May, Amazon announced it was buying MGM, the movie and TV studio behind James Bond, “Legally Blonde” and “Shark Tank,” with the goal of filling its video streaming service with more material to watch.

Comments

The Future of Slow Streets

The Future of Slow Streets By Eillie Anzilotti Over the past two years, Slow Streets have shown how simple designs that prioritize people can transform streets. Suddenly, streets across San Francisco filled with the sounds of kids playing and neighbors chatting. They filled with people on bicycles and people rolling in wheelchairs; with joggers and dog-walkers. The streets came to life. Initially, the SFMTA introduced Slow Streets as an emergency response to COVID-19. People needed space for recreating at a safe distance outdoors. And with Muni service reduced or suspended at the time, people needed ways to travel to essential destinations on foot or bike. To quickly meet these early pandemic needs, we implemented Slow Streets with simple signs and barricades. Over time, it became clear that Slow Streets served an even larger purpose. They became places for communities to come together. Neighbors organized events like scavenger hunts and Trick or Treat parties around their local Sl...

Transit Lanes Keep Muni Moving on Mission Street in SoMa

Transit Lanes Keep Muni Moving on Mission Street in SoMa By Erin McMillan The full-time transit lanes on Mission Street downtown installed as a temporary emergency measure during the pandemic will be made permanent. The first of the city’s Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes to get permanent authorization, they were unanimously approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors at their June 15, 2021 meeting. This shows how a quick-build project can be installed, evaluated, and refined in a relatively short amount of time. Thousands of daily riders have already felt the impact of the full-time transit lanes since they were first temporarily installed last summer. Now, riders of the 14 Mission, 14R Mission Rapid, and many SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit customers will continue to benefit from the transit time savings we have seen with the implementation of these lanes. Mission Street in SoMa has been a major transit corridor for years, serving regional commuter...

New top story from Time: After Trump Denies Knowledge of Reported Russian Bounties on U.S. Soldiers, Lawmakers From Both Parties Demand Answers

https://ift.tt/31rSR2S Leaders of both parties pressed on Sunday for answers from the White House about reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had put bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and that the U.S. had taken no action in response. Democrats called for hearings to be held. In his first comment on the matter, President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that “nobody briefed or told me” about the “so-called attacks,” a comment that his former national security adviser termed “remarkable.” The New York Times reported Friday on the alleged actions by Russian military intelligence — paying Taliban-linked militias to kill American and British troops — and that Trump and other top White House officials had been briefed on the matter months ago. Major elements were also reported by the Washington Post. In a follow-up story Sunday, the Times wrote that commandos and spies on the ground in Afghanistan had reported their findings to superiors in January and that they had ...

4th Street Transit Lane Offers Muni a Path Forward

4th Street Transit Lane Offers Muni a Path Forward By Bonnie Jean von Krogh A new transit lane was installed last week on 4th Street in SoMA as part of the previously approved 4th Street Transit Improvement Project . As the first transit lane put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, this change will help protect Muni passengers as congestion returns to city streets. Transit lanes allow buses to complete trips in less time and turn around back into service more quickly. That means with our limited resources, we can provide more Muni service with the same number of buses, reducing crowding and maintaining better physical distancing onboard. The benefits that transit lanes provide – saving time and avoiding congestion – have become critically important during COVID-19 to protect the health of Muni passengers. Physical distancing requirements mean that Muni’s passenger capacity is cut in a third from pre-COVID levels. When buses ...

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13 By Mariana Maguire Beginning Saturday, June 13, the SFMTA will increase Muni service and frequency, add select routes into service and extend some current routes to continue to support essential trips. A key goal of these service increases is to support the community’s economic recovery by providing more connections to neighborhood commercial districts as businesses begin to reopen. We are also adding more frequent service on targeted routes to help address crowding and improve onboard physical distancing. These service changes will improve transit access through Chinatown, SoMa and the Excelsior neighborhoods, identified by the Muni’s Service Equity Strategy as neighborhoods that rely on transit service the most based on the percentage of households with low incomes, private vehicle ownership and race and ethnicity demographics. Although Muni continues to be for essential trips only, many people have no choice but to use transit to r...

New top story from Time: Joe Biden Formally Nominated by Democrats to Run Against President Trump

https://ift.tt/31atd1S (NEW YORK) — Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night, as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his party’s all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Biden, who had sought the presidency twice before and is now cemented as the embodiment of Democrats’ desperate desire to defeat President Donald Trump this fall. The roll call of convention delegates formalized what has been clear for months since Biden took the lead in the primary elections’ chase for the nomination. It came as he worked to demonstrate the breadth of his coalition for a second consecutive night, this time blending support from his party’s elders and fresher faces to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secreta...

Railways allows e-catering facility at selected stations https://ift.tt/2LsUU1b

The Indian Railways on Friday allowed e-catering services to resume at selected railway stations. In a statement, the Railway Ministry said that it will be subject to compliance with all the guidelines on health and safety matters issued by Central and state governments and other authorised agencies under them. The ministry said that it may be noted that IRCTC had written to the Railway Board for the resumption of e catering at selected railway stations.

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue

New Sculptures Light up Van Ness Avenue By Luis “Loui” Apolonio Light sculpture at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street Spectators gathered both online and in person to watch new lighting sculptures on Van Ness turned on for the first time on March 31, 2022. The whimsical and brightly colored sculptures located on the new Van Ness BRT boarding platform between Geary and O’Farrell are made of steel with LED lights inside on a timer set to illuminate at night. The lighting event was kicked off with SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin and MTAB Chair Gwyneth Borden serving as emcees. Mary Chou, Director of Public Arts and Collections at the San Francisco Arts Commission, spoke about the art installation itself, as well as the process for selecting the artist who would be awarded the project. In addition, Maddy Ruvolo, a member of the SFMTA’s Accessible Services team and a recently appointed member of President Biden’s U.S. Access Board, shared the importance of having accessibility as a ...

Looking Back at the Roots of Muni Heritage Day

Looking Back at the Roots of Muni Heritage Day By Jeremy Menzies Muni Heritage Day returns this Saturday, June 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., after a two-year hiatus. This event brings our unique fleet of vintage buses and historic streetcars back on San Francisco streets for free rides. All rides will originate from Steuart Street and Don Chee Way, just outside the SF Railway Museum . In preparation for Saturday’s festivities, we look back at the origins of this event in the 1980s through some newly scanned historic photos. Seen here at the 1983 Trolley Festival, the “Boat Tram” has always been a crowd pleaser. The story of Muni Heritage is intertwined with both that of the F Line and a series of events called “Trolley Festivals”. The inaugural Trolley Festival in 1983 was the first time Muni ran special rail service using a collection of vintage cars from San Francisco and around the world. Today, Muni Heritage carries on this tradition for people to ride vehicles that ar...

Muni Highlights in 2021: More Service to More Destinations

Muni Highlights in 2021: More Service to More Destinations By Jonathan Streeter Our goal for Muni in 2021 was to match the service we offer with the changing travel patterns of an unpredictable era, as San Franciscans grappled with a second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, we expanded on the core routes that formed the nucleus of our early 2020 pandemic network by adding and improving service in key areas throughout San Francisco. We focused on access in neighborhoods where essential workers live, as well as on adding service in busy corridors and even creating new lines. At the beginning of the year, even with our reduced schedule, 91% of San Franciscans were within two or three blocks of a Muni stop. This included 100% of residents in San Francisco’s neighborhoods identified by the Muni Service Equity Strategy . By summer 2021, we added enough additional service so that 98% of San Franciscans were within two or three blocks of a Muni stop. To the relief of ma...

My precise view

Search This Blog