Amazon lost half its value this year as tech stocks got crushed and recession fears grew

Amazon has had a difficult year, with the company’s shares tumbling 51% in 2022, marking its worst performance since the dot-com crash in 2000. The company’s market capitalization has also shrunk to around $834 billion, down from $1.7 trillion at the start of the year. As a result, Amazon has fallen out of the trillion-dollar club.

The decline in Amazon’s stock price can largely be attributed to the overall decline in tech stocks, as well as growing concerns about a potential recession. Inflation and rising interest rates have led investors to shift away from growth-oriented companies like Amazon and toward those with high-profit margins, steady cash flow, and high dividend yields.

Despite the challenges facing the company, Amazon remains a dominant player in the e-commerce industry and has diversified into other areas such as cloud computing and streaming services. However, the company will need to navigate the current economic challenges if it hopes to recover from this difficult year.

In addition to the broader economic challenges facing Amazon, the company has also faced slower sales in recent months. Initially, the pandemic led to a surge in demand for online retailers like Amazon, as consumers turned to the platform for a wide range of goods from toilet paper and face masks to patio furniture. This helped drive Amazon’s stock to record highs as sales soared.

However, as the economy began to reopen, consumers gradually returned to shopping in stores and spending on things like travel and dining out. This led to a slowdown in Amazon’s impressive revenue growth. The situation was further exacerbated at the start of this year, as the company faced higher costs due to inflation, the conflict in Ukraine, and supply chain constraints.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from founder Jeff Bezos in July 2021, has acknowledged that the company over-hired and overbuilt its warehouse network in an effort to keep up with pandemic-era demand. As a result, Amazon has had to pause or cancel plans to open some new facilities, and its headcount shrank in the second quarter. Despite these challenges, Amazon remains a dominant player in the e-commerce industry and has diversified into other areas such as cloud computing and streaming services.

To address the challenges facing the company, Jassy has undertaken a comprehensive review of Amazon’s expenses, leading to the closure of some programs and a hiring freeze across the company’s corporate workforce. In an effort to reduce costs, Amazon recently announced what is expected to be the largest corporate job cuts in its history, with plans to lay off up to 10,000 employees.

Even Amazon’s typically reliable cloud computing division recorded its weakest revenue growth to date in the third quarter. This has led some analysts to reduce their estimates for the company’s performance in 2023, citing ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and ongoing weakness in the online retail and cloud computing sectors. Despite these challenges, Amazon remains a major player in the e-commerce industry and has diversified into other areas such as cloud computing and streaming services.