Robert Besser
03 Aug 2022, 04:53 GMT+10
CUPERTINO, California: In a sign that will reassure investors that they can weather a global economic slowdown, Amazon and Apple posted better than expected sales this week.
Despite rising prices, both companies said they were making progress in controlling operating costs, which sent shares soaring.
The quarterly updates from Apple and Amazon are closely watched as indicators of how customers are reacting to the economic climate.
Figures released this week showed the U.S. economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, a sign that many countries would consider being in an economic recession except in the U.S., which uses additional data.
"Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively, despite the challenging operating environment," said Apple's chief operating officer Luca Maestri, adding that the company expected growth to pick up again in the months ahead.
However, both companies have seen sales growth slow down from last year, and profits fall.
Amidst COVID-19 lockdowns in China, Apple's profits fell almost 11 percent from one year ago to $19.4 billion, while Amazon lost $2 billion due to changes to the value of its investment in electric carmaker Rivian Automotive.
Amazon was witnessing a "mixed bag" of economic signals, Apple head Tim Cook said, adding, "When you think about the number of challenges in the quarter, we feel really good about the growth that we put up."
Between April and June, overall sales of Apple products and services increased 2 percent year-on-year to $83 billion, with iPhone sales continuing to drive the company's gains, while supply issues have held back sales of its other products.
Meanwhile, Amazon said, despite its e-commerce business struggling in recent months, its revenues were up 7 percent to $121.2 billion, shielded by the strength of its cloud computing division, AWS, which saw sales surge by 33 percent.
Meanwhile Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said, "Despite continued inflationary pressures in fuel, energy, and transportation costs, we're making progress on the more controllable costs we referenced last quarter, particularly improving the productivity of our fulfillment network."
Laura Hoy, equity analyst from Hargreaves Lansdown, noted, "Big tech has been a mixed bag this earnings season, but Amazon proved that the strong can survive even the toughest environments," as quoted by the BBC.
Get a daily dose of San Diego Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to San Diego Sun.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: A JPMorgan Chase & Co spokesperson has confirmed that as part of the bank's efforts ...
MENLO PARK, California: Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has said it would remove news content in California if the state ...
CHICAGO, Illinois: Driven by an ongoing shortage of properties available on the market, in March US single-family home prices rose ...
SANTA CLARA, California: Nvidia Corp, the world's most valuable listed chip company, said that to meet soaring customer demand for ...
BURBANK, California: Over the US Memorial Day weekend, Disney's live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic, "The Little Mermaid," brought ...
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert knows he will be a rich man sometime in the near future, but he ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks started the week under pressure on Monday. "Markets are catching their breath after ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: A JPMorgan Chase & Co spokesperson has confirmed that as part of the bank's efforts ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Pentagon said this week that the satellite communications service started by billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX's Starlink, has ...
CHARLESTON, South Carolina: During a media tour this week at Boeing's facilities in Charleston, South Carolina, company CEO Dave Calhoun ...
MENLO PARK, California: Facebook parent company Meta Platforms has said it would remove news content in California if the state ...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager has said that a draft code of conduct on artificial intelligence (AI) could ...