Amazon is aiming high in Q2 2023 after a series of disappointing quarters. In its recent quarterly report, the e-commerce site recorded blowout profits, posting its biggest earnings since Q4 2020. The company showed that it returned to double-digit revenue growth, indicating that CEO Andy Jassy’s cost-cutting efforts are working.
According to CNBC, Amazon began its cost-cutting initiatives when it had its largest layoff in the company’s history. The company cut 27,000 jobs last Fall and has since froze corporate hiring. Global headcount fell 4% to 1.46 million people by the end of Q2. This past quarter, the company filed net income of $6.7 billion USD with an EPS of 65 cents over the 35 cents expected. The net sales hit $134.4 billion USD, higher than the the projected $131.6 billion USD.
Amazon reported a revenue growth to 11% year-over-year. Its revenue for its advertising and cloud businesses have also beat estimates with its ad haul hitting $10.7 billion USD over its expected $10.4 billion USD and its Amazon Web Services raking in $22.1 billion USD and pushing past the estimate of $21.8 billion USD. With sales climbing 12% in Q2 to $22.1 billion USD, AWS accounted for 70% of Amazon’s $7.7 billion USD in operating profit. The company also reported a net income of $6.7 billion USD after recording a $2 billion USD loss last year. For the third quarter, the company is expected to hit sales numbers between $138 billion and $143 billion USD or a growth between 9% and 13%.
In other tech news, Google researchers equip AI to transform brain scans into music.