Amazon Stock Drops 5 Percent on Worse-Than-Expected Q3 Sales

E-commerce giant beats Wall Street expectations on an earnings-per-share basis

Amazon

Amazon’s stock price was down more than 5 percent following the release of its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, which missed Wall Street revenue targets, but surpassed earnings expectations.

After the close of markets Thursday, Amazon reported revenue of $56.6 billion and earnings of $5.75 a share for the three months ended September 30. For the corresponding period last year, Amazon generated $43.74 billion in revenue and earnings of 52 cents a share. Analysts had projected $57.1 billion in revenue and earnings of $3.14 a share, according to a Yahoo Finance poll.

The stock has rallied a bit since its initial drop, down a bit more than 4 percent to $1,692-a-share at 4:25 p.m. ET in after-hours trading.

“Amazon Business has now reached a $10 billion annual sales run rate and is serving millions of private and public-sector organizations in eight countries,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “And we’re not slowing down – Amazon Business is adding customers rapidly, including large educational institutions, local governments, and more than half of the Fortune 100. These organizations are choosing Amazon Business because it increases transparency into business spending and streamlines purchasing, with increased control. The team is doing a fantastic job building and innovating for customers.”

Amazon posted a quarterly-profit of $2.9 billion, and has now posted a profit in 14 straight quarters. In September, Amazon became the second company worth $1 trillion, with the tech giant hitting the milestone one month after Apple became the first to do so.

Amazon Prime Video is coming off a quarter where it reached an agreement with Comcast to launch on its Xfinity X1 platform, as well as see “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” bag 8 trophies at last month’s Primetime Emmy Awards.

Amazon has its earnings call with executives scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.

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