InveDeckEARNINGS · AMZN

EARNINGS REVIEW

Amazon 2022 Q3 earnings report

2022 Q3 · 2022-09-30Release date 2022-10-27B$ · USD billions

Historical earnings report · Management guidance reflects expectations at the time of the release, not subsequent outcomes. The financial comparison uses the site’s normalized dataset, including comparative figures restated in later filings.

Cost reduction and adaptation to an uncertain economy were concurrent priorities.

Revenue
127.101 B$
Operating income
2.525 B$
FCF · calculated
−3.637 B$

Assessment · Cost reduction and adaptation to an uncertain economy were concurrent priorities. An operating margin of 2.0% alongside quarterly FCF of -3.637 B$ distinguishes earnings from the investment burden.

01 Business performance

The segment table uses revenue and operating income as released at the time. AWS profit and North American and international retail results together explain consolidated earnings; total Amazon CapEx is not AWS-only investment.

Business segmentRevenue B$Year over yearOperating income B$
North America78.84320.3%-0.412
International27.720-4.9%-2.466
AWS20.53827.5%5.403
Evidence · 1 ↗

02 Earnings quality

Consolidated operating income of 2.525 B$ on revenue of 127.101 B$ implies a 2.0% operating margin. Net income was 2.872 B$; the +0.347 B$ difference from operating income combines nonoperating and tax effects. The entire difference is not classified as cash earnings or a one-off item.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

03 Cash flow, investment and financial position

On the common quarterly comparison basis, OCF of 11.404 B$ less cash CapEx of 15.041 B$ produced FCF of -3.637 B$. CapEx/revenue was 11.8% and FCF margin was -2.9%. Capital spending exceeded operating cash inflow, leaving a post-investment cash deficit.

Quarter-end cash and current investments were 58.662 B$, interest-bearing borrowings at carrying amount were 75.966 B$, and net cash was -17.304 B$. Borrowings include current and noncurrent debt and exclude separately disclosed lease liabilities. Negative net cash means net debt. Total liabilities, which also include trade payables and leases, are a different measure.

Amazon’s headline OCF and FCF in the release are trailing-twelve-month figures and are not mixed with the quarterly figures above. Cash CapEx is net of sales and incentives. Including separate finance-lease principal payments changes the post-investment cash burden.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

04 Management commentary and contemporaneous outlook

Jassy planned continued fulfillment cost improvements while preserving long-term investments. The 1.1 B$ Rivian valuation gain should be separated from operating performance.

At release, next-quarter revenue guidance was 140.0–148.0 B$. This was management’s contemporaneous outlook, not realized revenue.

The next-quarter operating income/loss outlook was 0–4.0 B$. Parentheses denote a loss.

Evidence · 1 ↗

05 Interpretation and follow-up checks

Track AWS growth and profit contribution separately from North American and international retail results. Strong AWS demand can coexist with a different consolidated earnings direction if fulfillment costs and retail margins deteriorate.

On the same dataset basis, year-over-year revenue changed by +16.289 B$, operating margin by -2.4 percentage points and FCF by +3.801 B$. First test whether sales, earnings and cash move together. Use this absolute FCF change rather than a growth rate when the comparison period had negative FCF.

Evidence · 1 ↗ · 2 ↗

Quarterly results · CY-aligned presentation

Metric · B$2021 total of 2 included quarters3Q
2021 Q3
2021-09-30
4Q
2021 Q4
2021-12-31
2022 total of 3 included quarters1Q
2022 Q1
2022-03-31
2Q
2022 Q2
2022-06-30
3Q
2022 Q3
2022-09-30
QoQ ΔYoY Δ
Revenue248.224110.812137.412364.779116.444121.234127.1015.86716.289
Operating income8.3124.8523.4609.5113.6693.3172.525−0.792−2.327
Operating margin (%)3.3494.3792.5182.6073.1512.7361.987−0.749 pp−2.392 pp
Net income17.4793.15614.323−3.000−3.844−2.0282.8724.900−0.284
FCF · calculated−1.822−7.4385.616−25.302−16.532−5.133−3.6371.4963.801
Operating cash flow · total29.3997.31322.08617.579−2.7908.96511.4042.4394.091
Net cash CapEx · common31.22114.75116.47042.88113.74214.09815.0410.9430.290
Cash CapEx · Chinese company definition—————————
FCF · total calculation−1.822−7.4385.616−25.302−16.532−5.133−3.6371.4963.801
Net cash · liquid assets less borrowings44.771—44.771−17.304—−10.776−17.304−6.528—
Liquid assets · including short-term investments96.04978.98896.04958.66266.38560.71058.662−2.048−20.326
Borrowings · interest-bearing debt51.278—51.27875.966—71.48675.9664.480—
Cash and cash equivalents36.22029.94436.22034.94736.39337.47834.947−2.5315.003
Total liabilities · accounting liabilities282.304261.842282.304290.873276.766288.326290.8732.54729.031

CY denotes the calendar quarter with the greatest overlap with the fiscal period. If the first period has no start date, 89 days before its end is used only for calendar mapping. Financial values are not recalculated into calendar quarters. Incomplete years show totals of included quarters; cash, liabilities, borrowings and net cash use the last period-end balance. QoQ and YoY show absolute changes; margin changes are percentage points. Dashes indicate missing evidence or incomparable periods or definitions. Total liabilities never substitute for borrowings.

Definitions and evidence coverage

A dash means unavailable or undisclosed, not zero. Company-defined FCF may differ from total operating cash flow less common-basis CapEx. Total liabilities are accounting liabilities, not interest-bearing debt.

Management commentary paraphrases the earnings release. A full earnings-call and Q&A review has not been completed.

Financial tables use existing InveDeck normalized data and may reflect subsequent comparative filings. Segment tables and outlook use the original release basis.

Official source documents

  1. Original company earnings release filed with the SEC ↗
  2. SEC filing supporting canonical financial series ↗
  3. Financial filing · 2021-09-30 ↗
  4. Financial filing · 2021-09-30 ↗
  5. Financial filing · 2021-12-31 ↗
  6. Financial filing · 2021-12-31 ↗
  7. Financial filing · 2022-03-31 ↗
  8. Financial filing · 2022-03-31 ↗
  9. Financial filing · 2022-06-30 ↗
  10. Financial filing · 2022-06-30 ↗
  11. Financial filing / balance sheet ↗