In a February 3rd release, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) posted financial results for the 4th quarter and fiscal 2021. This Company can be regarded as a bellwether for on-line retail with an added involvement in entertainment and in BTB Tech through Amazon Web Services (AWS). The Company is subject to fluctuation in currency, international political events, climatic extremes and increased cost of goods, labor and transport in a competitive World environment still restrained by COVID.
In commenting on results, Andy Jassy, CEO stated “As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron. Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic. When you combine how we’re staffing and scaling our fulfillment network to bring even faster delivery to more customers, the extraordinary growth of AWS with 40% year-over-year growth (and now a $71 billion revenue run rate), the addition of marquee new entertainment and a plethora of new capabilities that we’re building in areas like Alexa, Ring, Grocery, Pharmacy, Amazon Care, Kuiper, and Zoox, there’s a lot to look forward to in the months and years ahead.”
For the 4th Quarter of FY 2021 ending December 31st, net income was $14,323 million on total revenue of $71,416 million with an EPS of $27.75, far exceeding the consensus of $3.77. Comparable figures for the 4th quarter of fiscal 2020 ending December 31st 2020 were net income of $7,222 million on total revenue of $71,056 million with an EPS of $14.09.
For FY 2021 net earnings were $33,364 million on revenue of $241,787 million compared to net earnings of $21,331 on revenue of $215,915 million for FY 2020. EPS for FY 2021 attained $65.96 compared to $42.64 million for FY 2020.
On December 31st 2021, ADM posted assets of $321,195 million, against long-term debt of $101,406 million. The Company had an intraday market capitalization of $1.41 trillion on February 3rd. AMZN trades with a forward P/E of 43.3 and has ranged over a 52-week period from $2,707 to $3,773 with a 50-day moving average of $3,278. Twelve-month trailing operating margin was 6.1 percent and profit margin 5.7 percent. Return on assets over the past twelve months was 5.3 percent and the return on equity 25.8 percent. At close of trading February 3rd pre-release, AMZN was priced at $2,778. At market open, post-release on February 4th AMZN traded at at $3,055 up 9.4 percent.