Amazon sales forecast misses estimates, shares fall

REUTERS: Amazon.com Inc's forecast for third-quarter sales missed Wall Street expectations on Thursday, as consumers return to brick-and-mortar stores after shopping more online for the past year due to the pandemic.

Shares of Amazon, which is only US$170 billion away from joining the US$2 trillion market cap club, were down 5per cent in extended trading.

The company expects current-quarter sales between US$106 billion and US$112 billion, or to grow between 10per cent and 16per cent.

Analysts were expecting US$118.90 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The speedy vaccine rollout and easing of restrictions have led consumers to venture out to stores, while adapting new ways of shopping such as click-and-collect, in competition with fast delivery services for online orders provided by Amazon and its peers.

The company also reported a rare quarterly sales miss, amid competition from retailers such as Walmart Inc and Target Corp that have ramped up their online businesses over the past year.

Amazon's net sales rose to US$113.08 billion in the second quarter ended June 30 from US$88.91 billion, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected US$115.20 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)