New York (EFE).- The powerful technology companies Amazon, Apple and Alphabet present the results of the last quarter of the most recent financial year, in the midst of constant announcements of personnel cuts in companies in this sector.
Amazon
The American e-commerce giant Amazon announced a loss of 2.722 million dollars in 2022 compared to the more than 33,000 million it earned the previous year, dragged down by its investment in the electric car company Rivian.
The technology company has spent quarter after quarter weighed down by the sharp fall in Rivian’s stock market, in which it has a significant stake, and according to a company statement, a charge of 12,700 million was recorded that has contributed to ending the first unprofitable year for the company since 2014.
The big bet that Amazon made in 2019 for Rivian has taken its toll on the Seattle firm since the beginning of last year, a period in which the car company has lost 65% of its capitalization.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s annual net billing increased 9%, to 513,983 million, with higher sales volume in North America – its main source of income -, a decrease internationally and notable growth in its cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS).
AWS, which leads its market, grew 29% this year to bill 80.1 billion and was also the only segment with an operating profit of 22.9 billion, but experts pointed out today that it is moderating its growth due to the appearance of competitors.
Apple
For its part, the company with the bitten apple had net profits of 29,998 million dollars between October and December, 13% less than in the same period of the previous year, and saw its turnover decrease in the year-on-year comparison for the first time. since 2019.
In its first quarter of 2023 (Apple’s fiscal year begins in October), the Cupertino (California, USA) company entered 117,154 million dollars, 5.5% less than a year earlier.
The results of the company with the bitten apple fell short of market expectations and its shares lost more than 3% in electronic operations after the closing of Wall Street.
Alphabet
The parent company of the Google search engine, Alphabet, announced a net profit of 59,972 million dollars in 2022, 21% less than a year earlier, although its turnover improved almost 10%, up to 282,836 million dollars.
The company, which operates the world’s most-used search engine and huge platforms like YouTube, defrauded markets with its accounts and, after rising sharply during the trading session, its shares were down about 6% in after-hours electronic trading. .
In the last quarter of the year, data to which investors paid the most attention today, Alphabet had a net profit of 13,624 million dollars, 34% less in the year-on-year comparison, while its turnover grew by 1%, up to 76,048 million. .
Both figures were below analysts’ expectations, largely due to the deterioration of its gigantic advertising business -which accounts for the majority of its turnover- as a result of the current economic situation.
Alphabet earned 59,042 million dollars from advertising between October and December, compared to 61,239 million in the same period of the previous year, with decreases in both its search engine and YouTube ads, which had grown very strongly during the pandemic and which they have been losing steam with the return to normality.
