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Daily Newsletter

08 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Amazon Q2 2023 results surpass expectations and fuel social media buzz

GlobalData's Social Media Analytics platform unpacks the buzz surrounding Amazon, which performed better than Wall Street expected in Q2 2023.

E-Commerce behemoth Amazon.com Inc has exceeded Wall Street's expectations in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023 with an impressive 11% year-on-year rise in earnings results. This propelled a surge in market share and value before the first weekend of August.

Consequently, Twitter (now known as X) influencer conversations around Amazon saw a dramatic increase, reveals the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Smitarani Tripathy, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Advertising revenue was one of the most discussed topics among the Twitter influencers, as it recorded an impressive growth of 22% in Q2.

"Other discussed key topics were Cloud, AI, Retail, and e-Commerce. Influencers predict e-Commerce business will keep growing with more affordable and efficient cloud computing.”

Below are a few popular influencer opinions captured by GlobalData’s Social Media Analytics Platform:

1. Ryan Henderson, Investor at Arch Capital:

“$AMZN Impressive growth from Amazon’s advertising business. $41 billion in LTM revenue, growing 22% YoY. That’s more advertising revenue than Google added in the last year.”

2. Tanay Jaipuria, Partner at Wing Ventures:

“Amazon's ads business is now at a $42.5B run rate still growing 20+% per year. It's a bigger business than each of YouTube and Netflix”

3. Tom Craig, Global Supply Chain/Logistics Consultant & Advisor:

“Amazon's $AMZN shares up over 7% on cloud, consumer sales lift. It will be interesting to see how #retail competitors #ecommerce do.”

4. Rahul Sharma, Managing Director, Neev Capital

“Folks always want to talk about AWS all the time. But in Q2 alone, US retail grew sales by $8 billion on huge base of $74 billion. $AMZN has clearly adjusted to post Covid boom & growing fast again. Just an incredible brand. $TGT $WMT”

5. Beth Kindig, Lead Analyst at I/O Fund:

“Online commerce is driving significant growth in the cross-border e-commerce market: growth is projected at a 25.5% CAGR to surpass $5.5T by 2030.”

Following this success, Amazon anticipates operating income results of between $5.5bn and $8.5bn in Q3 FY23.

APAC duty-free market expected to grow fastest, fueled by rising income levels and international travelers

Per latest GlobalData estimates, the global duty-free market retailing market was valued at $49 billion in 2022, its highest level ever as it bounced back from the pandemic impact, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 28% during the period 2020-2026, driven by government initiatives, rising passenger numbers, major global events (for instance global sporting tournaments) and the renewed popularity of cruise trips. Infrastructure investments will also play an important role, particularly airport expansion and space refurbishment, and investments in arrivals duty-free formats. That said, growth will be held in check in the years ahead by the permanent erosion of disposable income from the heightened cost of living impacting demand for air travel. The duty-free market in the APAC region showed strong growth in 2022, as traveler numbers surged in response to the lifting of travel restrictions. To cater for rising demand in the region, many airports in the APAC area are expanding and modernizing, giving duty-free stores greater space that will allow them to attract more customers. The future of APAC duty-free retail is also being shaped by the adoption of technology. The rise in online shopping, mobile payments, and digital marketing are giving businesses new ways to connect with customers and improve the shopping experience.