亚马逊疫情期间利润飙升，二季度财报揭示原因
得益于持久的疫情红利，亚马逊第二季度的总销售收入同比猛增40%，达到了889亿美元。
亚马逊轻松打破了分析师的预期，在截至6月30日的第二季度财报中，该公司的营收达到了812.4亿美元，利润也同比增长了一倍，为52亿美元。这个结果相当引人注目，鉴于该公司曾经在4月表示，由于疫情期间的运营成本高昂，预计第二季度将亏损15亿美元。
亚马逊的首席财务官布莱恩·奥尔萨夫斯基在财报电话会议上告诉分析师，公司在疫情方面的支出超过了40亿美元。这些支出包括：在公司众多仓库和办公场所施行额外的防护、为工作人员购买个人防护用品，以及奖励给物流人员和送货员的、总计5亿美元的“感谢金”。
但是，亚马逊平台的消费者数量的大幅增加，以及消费者购物量的增加，弥补了这些支出。奥尔萨夫斯基表示，虽然没有准确数据，但在第二季度，亚马逊在线零售销售额同比增长了两倍，平台的Prime会员“购物频率更高”、“购物量也变大了”。
奥尔萨夫斯基没有提及亚马逊的首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯于7月29日的美国国会反垄断听证会上受到的盘问。在听证会上，议员们针对亚马逊、苹果、谷歌和Facebook等科技巨头的垄断市场行为展开了提问。参与财报电话会议的分析师，也没有提及反垄断听证会可能对亚马逊造成的影响，他们的问题主要集中在，亚马逊的第二季度表现，以及公司之后将如何使用这意料之外的巨额利润。
奥尔萨夫斯基表示，诸如削减营销支出、减少运输及相关支出等举措，为亚马逊本季度的利润增长做出了贡献。当被问及，亚马逊是否会把这笔额外的资金用于新的投资项目时，奥尔萨夫斯基说，公司已经“有了很多投资”，而且“一直在寻找新的投资项目”。他说，亚马逊的大部分支出，都将用于建设必要的基础设施，以满足客户持续的巨大需求。
该公司削减支出的一个领域是亚马逊工作室的电视和电影部门。奥尔萨夫斯基的理由是，就像许多娱乐行业一样，由于疫情，亚马逊“推后了大部分剧片的录制”。
“这样是为了保护演员和摄制组。”奥尔萨夫斯基说。
但在第二季度，亚马逊并非事事顺利。
例如，该公司的AWS（亚马逊网络服务）云计算部门的销售额为108亿美元，同比仅增长29%。这虽然令人印象深刻，但却意味着AWS的增长速度有所下降。上个季度，AWS的收入同比增长33%，达到了102亿美元。据Gartner在7月的估算，企业在IT服务方面的支出下降，似乎影响到了亚马逊的云计算业务，并对亚马逊的竞争对手微软的Azure云计算业务造成了相同影响，后者的收入增长速度也比以前更慢。
奥尔萨夫斯基表示，酒店和旅游业等行业的公司，在疫情期间受到的打击尤其严重。它们“现在正非常努力地削减开支”，这意味着它们在亚马逊云计算服务上的支出将会减少。他说，为了维持“长期健康的关系”，亚马逊将继续“帮助我们的客户省钱”。换句话说，亚马逊现在不会对陷入困境的客户过分苛责，因为当经济复苏后，这些公司可能会愿意购买云服务产品。
尽管如此，奥尔萨夫斯基说，虽然大多数公司都受到了疫情的冲击，但“也有赢家出现”。他表示，视频会议，游戏和娱乐等行业“都出现了用户量的增长”，这意味着这些领域的消费者需求更大，因此相关公司将在云服务上投入更多的资金。
确实，在疫情期间，使用AWS的视频会议公司Zoom、流媒体公司Netflix和游戏公司艺电均拥有稳定的季度收益，且用户数量出现了大幅增长。而亚马逊，也是疫情期间仍蓬勃发展的公司名单中的一员。（财富中文网）
译者：Shog
得益于持久的疫情红利，亚马逊第二季度的总销售收入同比猛增40%，达到了889亿美元。
亚马逊轻松打破了分析师的预期，在截至6月30日的第二季度财报中，该公司的营收达到了812.4亿美元，利润也同比增长了一倍，为52亿美元。这个结果相当引人注目，鉴于该公司曾经在4月表示，由于疫情期间的运营成本高昂，预计第二季度将亏损15亿美元。
亚马逊的首席财务官布莱恩·奥尔萨夫斯基在财报电话会议上告诉分析师，公司在疫情方面的支出超过了40亿美元。这些支出包括：在公司众多仓库和办公场所施行额外的防护、为工作人员购买个人防护用品，以及奖励给物流人员和送货员的、总计5亿美元的“感谢金”。
但是，亚马逊平台的消费者数量的大幅增加，以及消费者购物量的增加，弥补了这些支出。奥尔萨夫斯基表示，虽然没有准确数据，但在第二季度，亚马逊在线零售销售额同比增长了两倍，平台的Prime会员“购物频率更高”、“购物量也变大了”。
奥尔萨夫斯基没有提及亚马逊的首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯于7月29日的美国国会反垄断听证会上受到的盘问。在听证会上，议员们针对亚马逊、苹果、谷歌和Facebook等科技巨头的垄断市场行为展开了提问。参与财报电话会议的分析师，也没有提及反垄断听证会可能对亚马逊造成的影响，他们的问题主要集中在，亚马逊的第二季度表现，以及公司之后将如何使用这意料之外的巨额利润。
奥尔萨夫斯基表示，诸如削减营销支出、减少运输及相关支出等举措，为亚马逊本季度的利润增长做出了贡献。当被问及，亚马逊是否会把这笔额外的资金用于新的投资项目时，奥尔萨夫斯基说，公司已经“有了很多投资”，而且“一直在寻找新的投资项目”。他说，亚马逊的大部分支出，都将用于建设必要的基础设施，以满足客户持续的巨大需求。
该公司削减支出的一个领域是亚马逊工作室的电视和电影部门。奥尔萨夫斯基的理由是，就像许多娱乐行业一样，由于疫情，亚马逊“推后了大部分剧片的录制”。
“这样是为了保护演员和摄制组。”奥尔萨夫斯基说。
但在第二季度，亚马逊并非事事顺利。
例如，该公司的AWS（亚马逊网络服务）云计算部门的销售额为108亿美元，同比仅增长29%。这虽然令人印象深刻，但却意味着AWS的增长速度有所下降。上个季度，AWS的收入同比增长33%，达到了102亿美元。据Gartner在7月的估算，企业在IT服务方面的支出下降，似乎影响到了亚马逊的云计算业务，并对亚马逊的竞争对手微软的Azure云计算业务造成了相同影响，后者的收入增长速度也比以前更慢。
奥尔萨夫斯基表示，酒店和旅游业等行业的公司，在疫情期间受到的打击尤其严重。它们“现在正非常努力地削减开支”，这意味着它们在亚马逊云计算服务上的支出将会减少。他说，为了维持“长期健康的关系”，亚马逊将继续“帮助我们的客户省钱”。换句话说，亚马逊现在不会对陷入困境的客户过分苛责，因为当经济复苏后，这些公司可能会愿意购买云服务产品。
尽管如此，奥尔萨夫斯基说，虽然大多数公司都受到了疫情的冲击，但“也有赢家出现”。他表示，视频会议，游戏和娱乐等行业“都出现了用户量的增长”，这意味着这些领域的消费者需求更大，因此相关公司将在云服务上投入更多的资金。
确实，在疫情期间，使用AWS的视频会议公司Zoom、流媒体公司Netflix和游戏公司艺电均拥有稳定的季度收益，且用户数量出现了大幅增长。而亚马逊，也是疫情期间仍蓬勃发展的公司名单中的一员。（财富中文网）
译者：Shog
Amazon continues to benefit from COVID-19 as the company’s overall sales skyrocketed 40% year-over-year to $88.9 billion in its fiscal second quarter.
The online retail and cloud computing giant easily beat analyst expectations that it would bring in $81.24 billion in revenue for its latest quarter, which ended June 30. Amazon’s profits also doubled year-over-year to $5.2 billion in its latest quarter, which is notable considering the company said in April that it was projecting a loss of up to $1.5 billion in its second quarter due to the high costs associated with operating during the coronavirus pandemic.
Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts during an earnings call that the company spent over $4 billion on coronavirus-related expenses. These expenditures included adding additional safety measures at the company’s many warehouses and facilities, purchasing personal protective equipment for its numerous workers, and paying a $500 million “thank-you bonus” to logistics and delivery workers.
But the massive increase in consumers buying more goods via Amazon more than made up for the expense. Olsavsky said that online grocery sales tripled year-over-year in the latest quarter from an unspecified number and that customers of Amazon’s Prime paid-subscription service are “shopping more often” and with “larger basket sizes.”
Olsavsky made no mention of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos’s recent grilling by lawmakers on July 29 during a congressional hearing about antitrust and the power of tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook. Analysts on the earnings call also didn't address the possible ramifications of the antitrust hearings on Amazon, with questions mostly focusing on the company's solid quarter and what it plans to do with its unexpected big profits.
Olsavsky said that actions like cutting down on marketing spend and reducing travel and related expenses helped contribute to Amazon’s profits for the quarter. When asked whether Amazon would use the extra cash to spend on new investment areas, Olsavsky said that the company already has “a lot of investments already in place” and that Amazon is “always looking for new investments.” He said that much of Amazon’s spending is going to building the necessary infrastructure required to handle the continued heavy demand from customers.
One area that the company cut back on was its Amazon Studios television and film unit, which Olsavsky attributed to Amazon having “to delay production in most studios”—like much of the entertainment industry—due to COVID-19.
“We are doing that to protect the actors and film crews,” Olsavsky said.
Not everything went smoothly for Amazon during its latest quarter.
Sales in the company’s AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud computing unit only grew 29% year-over-year to $10.8 billion, which, while impressive, marks a decline in how fast AWS is growing. Last quarter, for instance, AWS revenue rose 33% year-over-year to $10.2 billion. It appears that lower corporate spending in IT services, as measured by Gartner in July, is affecting Amazon’s cloud unit in the same way it’s affecting the Azure cloud computing business of Amazon rival Microsoft, which is also growing more slowly than before.
Olsavsky said that companies in industries like hospitality and travel that have been hit especially hard during the coronavirus pandemic are “working very hard right now to cut expenses,” implying that they are spending less on Amazon’s cloud computing service. He said that Amazon will continue to “help our customers save money” for “the long-term health of the relationship.” In other words, Amazon’s not going to be a stickler with its struggling customers right now, because those companies might want to do some major cloud service purchases when the economy recovers.
Still, Olsavsky said that while most companies are hurting because of COVID-19, there are “certainly winners in this.” He said sectors like video conferencing, gaming, and entertainment are “all seeing usage growth,” meaning that companies in those areas are seeing more consumer demand, and therefore, are spending more on cloud services to accommodate.
Indeed, video conferencing company Zoom, streaming service Netflix, and video-gaming company Electronic Arts—who all use AWS—have all had solid quarters during the pandemic, showing big user growth. You can add Amazon to that list of companies thriving during COVID-19.
