Amazon to report quarterly earnings after the close

Amazon is set to report second-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday.

Here’s what analysts polled by LSEG are expecting:

• Earnings per share: $1.03
• Revenue: $148.56 billion

Wall Street is also looking at these key numbers:

• Amazon Web Services: $26 billion in revenue, according to StreetAccount
• Advertising: $13 billion in revenue, according to StreetAccount

Revenue growth at Amazon is accelerating, driven by its emerging advertising business and demand for cloud services, but expansion remains weak by the company’s standards. Analysts are expecting sales growth of 10.5% in the quarter from $134.4 billion, compared with a 13% increase in the first quarter.

Amazon is rounding out what’s been a mixed earnings season for leading tech companies. Google parent Alphabet met analysts’ expectations for the second quarter, but posted disappointing YouTube ad revenue. Microsoft‘s beat on the top and bottom lines was overshadowed by lower-than-expected Azure cloud revenue. Meta‘s results topped analysts expectations, fueled by growth in its core digital ads business. Apple reports on Thursday after the bell.

Wall Street will be keeping a close eye on how Amazon Web Services fared during the quarter, as the company races to provide more artificial intelligence offerings. Microsoft reported 29% growth in its rival Azure business, and Google Cloud grew at about the same rate. Amazon, which leads the cloud infrastructure market, is expected to report growth of 17.6%, according to StreetAccount.

Analysts at BofA Securities said they viewed Google’s cloud results “as a positive read-thru for AWS,” adding that AWS should see tail winds from growth in its backlog revenue, and increasing demand from customers who need compute power to train their AI models.

For the past two years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been more disciplined in the company’s spending, and has looked for ways to slash costs. Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees since late 2022, with the cuts bleeding into 2024.

Amazon’s profit has rebounded sharply over the past year as a result of the cost cutting. Operating income soared 200% in the first quarter, and analysts expect further growth in the second quarter with year-over-year expansion of about 79%.

Amazon’s advertising business has emerged as one of its biggest growth and profit engines. Revenue in the segment increased 24% year over year during the first quarter, and is expected to show 22% growth in the second.

Earlier this year, Amazon joined its streaming peers in including ads in Prime Video content. Prime Video users are now automatically shown ads, unless they pay an additional $2.99 a month to unlock the ad-free tier. In a note on July 21, Loop Capital analysts called it a “gangster move” that could help propel Amazon to become an “advertising powerhouse.”

The ad business could haul in as much as $150 billion in sales before the end of the decade, up from $47 billion in annual sales last year, the Loop analysts wrote. They have a buy rating on Amazon’s stock.

During the quarter, Amazon secured a highly sought after position as the third rights partner in the NBA’s new 11-year TV deal. It’s the latest example of Amazon’s push into live sports and is likely to boost its advertising business and Prime Video platform, which Amazon uses to hook new Prime subscribers and drive purchases on its store.

Amazon shares are up 23% this year, while the Nasdaq has gained just over 17% over that stretch.