Amazon's stock has been facing an uphill battle this year, with its share price dropping back to its pre-pandemic level. On Monday, Amazon's shares closed at $84.92, the lowest close since March 16th of 2020. Despite the company's success with online orders during the pandemic, its stock is still down 49% in the year 2022. To help the company's finances, CEO Andy Jassy has implemented a review of Amazon's expenses, resulting in some programs being discontinued and a hiring freeze for the corporate workforce. Amazon is currently forecasting sales of between $140 billion and $148 billion for the current quarter, which is only an increase of 2% to 8%. This is much lower than analysts' average expectation of $155.15 billion.
It is important to note that Amazon's stock has had a tough year and that the company is taking steps to ensure its financial stability. The review of expenses and hiring freeze are necessary steps to ensure the company's success in the long run. Although the sales forecast is not as high as the analysts had predicted, it is still an increase overall. It will be interesting to follow the company's stock performance in the coming months to see if the steps taken to reduce costs have a positive effect on the company's share price.