Amazon's income drops over 10% YoY in Q3 2022

Amazon.com's shares tumbled down to 13% in premarket trading, their lowest since March 2020, after forecasting holiday-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates.

Although revenue grew 15% in the third quarter, marking a return to double-digit sales expansion and net sales increased 15% to $127.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with $110.8 billion in Q3 2021. Net income decreased to $2.9 billion in the third quarter, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared with $3.2 billion, or $0.31 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021.

It's North American e-commerce business grew revenue by 20%, though international sales fell 5%. Combining these two numbers, the company's digital retail grew by roughly 13% but also generated an operating loss.

"Despite accelerating revenues, Amazon has been cut down to size by the market after missing expectations. Efficiency has yet to return to the e-commerce business," Ben Barringer, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said.

Another headwind — soaring energy prices — are beginning to impact Amazon’s business in a major way, with the company’s spending on shipping climbing 10% to $19.9 billion in Q3 2022. Those challenges have coincided with a slowdown in Amazon’s core retail business, as consumers returned to shopping in stores.

Analysts fear macroeconomic factors, including a strong dollar, will continue to hit Amazon in the near term, however, over a longer period of time, the retailer should be able to bounce back.‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌