Amazon workers stage biggest walkout in company’s history with thousands of workers striking at two UK sites
Shares in online shopping giant Amazon surged last night after it became the latest tech giant to smash Wall Street forecasts.
The world’s biggest online retailer posted sales of £106billion for the three months to June, 11 per cent higher than in 2022 and above the £103billion predicted by analysts.
It made a £5.3billion quarterly profit, after a £1.6billion loss in the same period of 2022 as its dominance of online shopping staved off declines caused by a downturn in consumer sentiment amid the cost of living squeeze.
Pay dispute: Up to 1,100 Amazon workers at two sites went on strike at Coventry (pictured) and Rugeley fulfilment centre – with more strikes scheduled for today and tomorrow
Analysts expected profits of £2.8billion. Shares rose as much as 7 per cent in after-hours trading on Wall Street.
But Apple failed to match Amazon’s success as it said revenues fell 1 per cent to £64billion.
Profits hit £15.7billion but sales of the iPhone were at £31.2billion, which was below estimates of £40billion. Apple shares dipped by 1 per cent.
Apple chief Tim Cook said: ‘We had an all-time revenue record in services during the quarter, driven by over 1bn subscriptions, and continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone.’
It had to make drastic cuts to production forecasts for its mixed-reality Vision Pro headset in July after seven years in development.
Amazon boss Andy Jassy said: ‘It was another strong quarter of progress.’ Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing arm, was also a growth driver as sales increased roughly 12 per cent.
Jassy added that the firm was experimenting with using AI.
But high inflation, a shaky economic outlook and fear of higher interest rates have weighed heavily on tech shares.
Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, has cut 27,000 jobs this year.
It comes as the firm faced its biggest day of industrial disruption in the UK yesterday with up to 1,100 workers on strike in Coventry and Rugeley.
Amazon’s results followed strong recent numbers posted by tech giants including Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft.