Amazon Profits Fall Far Short of Expectations, but Investors Shrug
It was still the kind of performance that investors have come to expect from Mr. Bezos
and Amazon: a 25 percent increase in sales and example after example of how the company is pouring money into original video programming, warehouses and shaping the future with new technology and products like its Echo family of gadgets.
By NICK WINGFIELDJULY 27, 2017
SEATTLE — Investors gave Amazon’s stock a bump early Thursday in anticipation of a strong earnings report later
in the day, briefly making Jeff Bezos, the company’s chief executive, the world’s wealthiest person.
For the second quarter, ending June 30, Amazon said its net income was $197 million, or 40 cents a share,
compared with net income of $857 million, or $1.78 a share, in the same period a year earlier.
Concerns about Amazon’s mighty ambitions are on the rise at the moment, in part because of its pending plan to acquire Whole Foods for $13.4 billion, a deal
that could put Amazon on a path to becoming a significant player in the vast grocery market.
Amazon’s shares have risen more than 8 percent since the deal was announced in June, helping to propel Mr.
Bezos to the position of world’s second-wealthiest person, according to a ranking compiled by Forbes.
According to a filing with securities regulators in April, Mr. Bezos holds nearly 81 million Amazon shares — almost 17 percent of the company.
