Amazon's Q4 Earnings Miss Expectations, Shares Plunge
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 2d ago
0mins
Should l Buy AMZN?
Source: CNBC
- Earnings Decline: Amazon's Q4 earnings report revealed that revenue missed expectations, leading to a more than 11% plunge in shares during after-hours trading, indicating market concerns about its future growth prospects.
- Surging Capital Expenditure: The company projected a capital expenditure of $200 billion for 2026, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $146.6 billion, and notably higher than Alphabet's projected range of $175 billion to $185 billion, highlighting the fierce competition among Big Tech in the AI sector.
- Market Reaction: Concerns over AI's impact on software company valuations contributed to a 1.59% drop in the Nasdaq Composite, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.23% and 1.2%, respectively, reflecting diminished investor confidence in tech stocks.
- Layoff Data: U.S. layoffs in January reached their highest level since 2009, totaling 108,435, a 118% increase year-over-year, further exacerbating market anxiety and signaling signs of an economic slowdown.
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Analyst Views on AMZN
Wall Street analysts forecast AMZN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for AMZN is 294.69 USD with a low forecast of 250.00 USD and a high forecast of 340.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
47 Analyst Rating
46 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 222.690
Low
250.00
Averages
294.69
High
340.00
Current: 222.690
Low
250.00
Averages
294.69
High
340.00
About AMZN
Amazon.com, Inc. provides a range of products and services to customers. The products offered through its stores include merchandise and content it has purchased for resale and products offered by third-party sellers. The Company’s segments include North America, International and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It serves consumers through its online and physical stores and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. Customers access its offerings through its websites, mobile apps, Alexa, devices, streaming, and physically visiting its stores. It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero, and develops and produces media content. It serves developers and enterprises of all sizes, including start-ups, government agencies, and academic institutions, through AWS, which offers a set of on-demand technology services, including compute, storage, database, analytics, and machine learning, and other services.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
AMAZON STOCK FALLS 10% IN FRANKFURT FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL EXPENDITURE IN EARNINGS REPORT
Amazon Shares Drop: Amazon's shares fell by 10% in Frankfurt following the announcement of significant capital expenditures.
Impact of Results: The decline in stock price is attributed to investor reactions to the company's financial results and spending plans.
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- Capital Expenditure Comparison: Google announced an increase in capital expenditures to $175 billion to $185 billion, exceeding the expected $115 billion to $120 billion, indicating a proactive approach in AI despite challenges from slowing ad revenues.
- Changing Competitive Landscape: With Alphabet's ongoing investments and successes in AI, YouTube's user base has grown to 750 million, and Waymo's self-driving business is outpacing Tesla, suggesting a strengthening competitive advantage that may attract more investor interest.
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- Competitive Pressure: Despite some success in the restaurant sector, SoundHound's technology is not unique, facing fierce competition from established AI assistants like Apple's Siri, and the lack of a competitive moat raises concerns about its long-term prospects.
- Data Acquisition Challenges: SoundHound struggles to obtain sufficient customer interaction data to train its AI, as relying on restaurant order transcripts may not meet the demands of broader customer service applications, limiting its market expansion capabilities.
- Poor Financial Health: The company is currently unprofitable with negative cash flow, having doubled its share count over the past three years and relying on capital dilution for funding, which may hinder its future technology development and market competitiveness.
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SoundHound AI Faces Data Challenges in Expanding Voice Chatbot
- Technological Advantages and Challenges: SoundHound AI's voice chatbot excels in restaurant order processing, claiming a 32% higher accuracy than human employees and 85% faster service, saving $58,000 per location annually; however, expanding into other industries presents significant hurdles.
- Market Demand and Potential: While its Amelia 7 AI customer service agent has found applications in insurance and finance, SoundHound needs to break free from the restaurant sector to tap into the growing demand and vast untapped market potential for AI customer service agents.
- Data Acquisition Dilemma: SoundHound faces a long-term challenge of lacking sufficient customer interaction data to train its AI, particularly for complex inquiries, as relying solely on restaurant order transcripts is inadequate for developing a cross-industry AI.
- Increased Competitive Pressure: SoundHound's technology is not unique in the AI voice assistant space, facing competition from giants like Amazon, which possesses extensive data and resources, potentially threatening SoundHound's long-term prospects by entering the chatbot market at any time.
See More
US Job Market Remains Stagnant Amid Layoffs
- Surge in Layoff Plans: January 2026 saw the highest layoff plans since 2009, indicating a severe job market situation that could lead to further economic deterioration, impacting consumer confidence and spending.
- Weak Job Additions: The private sector added only 22,000 jobs, significantly lower than the 140,000 added during the same period last year, suggesting a sluggish economic recovery that may lead to decreased household income and consumer spending.
- Increase in Unemployment Claims: Initial claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to 231,000 in the last week of January, reflecting the impact of severe winter weather on the job market, potentially exacerbating economic uncertainty.
- Disconnection Between Growth and Employment: Despite GDP growth reaching an annual rate of 4.4% in Q3 last year, challenges remain for low-income households, highlighting a “K-shaped” recovery that may exacerbate social inequality.
See More
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Amazon Shares Drop: Amazon's shares fell by 10% in Frankfurt following the announcement of significant capital expenditures.
Impact of Results: The decline in stock price is attributed to investor reactions to the company's financial results and spending plans.
See More
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- Q4 Operating Income: Amazon's Q4 operating income includes an estimated $730 million in severance costs.
- Asset Impairments: The company reported $610 million in asset impairments related to physical stores.
See More
Investor Confusion in AI Competition
- Investor Sentiment Shift: Following earnings calls from tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, investor confusion about future directions led to Amazon losing over $300 billion in market cap, reflecting strong skepticism regarding its $200 billion AI investment plan.
- Capital Expenditure Comparison: Google announced an increase in capital expenditures to $175 billion to $185 billion, exceeding the expected $115 billion to $120 billion, indicating a proactive approach in AI despite challenges from slowing ad revenues.
- Changing Competitive Landscape: With Alphabet's ongoing investments and successes in AI, YouTube's user base has grown to 750 million, and Waymo's self-driving business is outpacing Tesla, suggesting a strengthening competitive advantage that may attract more investor interest.
- Mixed Market Reactions: Despite OpenAI and Anthropic's strong performance in AI, Microsoft's Copilot sales have been disappointing, highlighting investor concerns about its future growth and reflecting differing levels of confidence across companies.
See More
SoundHound AI Faces Significant Challenges
- Market Demand Recognition: SoundHound AI's voice AI platform aims to address pain points in customer service, particularly in noisy environments, with its restaurant voice ordering system achieving 32% higher accuracy than human employees, 85% faster service, and annual cost savings of $58,000 per location, showcasing its potential in the food industry.
- Competitive Pressure: Despite some success in the restaurant sector, SoundHound's technology is not unique, facing fierce competition from established AI assistants like Apple's Siri, and the lack of a competitive moat raises concerns about its long-term prospects.
- Data Acquisition Challenges: SoundHound struggles to obtain sufficient customer interaction data to train its AI, as relying on restaurant order transcripts may not meet the demands of broader customer service applications, limiting its market expansion capabilities.
- Poor Financial Health: The company is currently unprofitable with negative cash flow, having doubled its share count over the past three years and relying on capital dilution for funding, which may hinder its future technology development and market competitiveness.
See More
SoundHound AI Faces Data Challenges in Expanding Voice Chatbot
- Technological Advantages and Challenges: SoundHound AI's voice chatbot excels in restaurant order processing, claiming a 32% higher accuracy than human employees and 85% faster service, saving $58,000 per location annually; however, expanding into other industries presents significant hurdles.
- Market Demand and Potential: While its Amelia 7 AI customer service agent has found applications in insurance and finance, SoundHound needs to break free from the restaurant sector to tap into the growing demand and vast untapped market potential for AI customer service agents.
- Data Acquisition Dilemma: SoundHound faces a long-term challenge of lacking sufficient customer interaction data to train its AI, particularly for complex inquiries, as relying solely on restaurant order transcripts is inadequate for developing a cross-industry AI.
- Increased Competitive Pressure: SoundHound's technology is not unique in the AI voice assistant space, facing competition from giants like Amazon, which possesses extensive data and resources, potentially threatening SoundHound's long-term prospects by entering the chatbot market at any time.
See More
US Job Market Remains Stagnant Amid Layoffs
- Surge in Layoff Plans: January 2026 saw the highest layoff plans since 2009, indicating a severe job market situation that could lead to further economic deterioration, impacting consumer confidence and spending.
- Weak Job Additions: The private sector added only 22,000 jobs, significantly lower than the 140,000 added during the same period last year, suggesting a sluggish economic recovery that may lead to decreased household income and consumer spending.
- Increase in Unemployment Claims: Initial claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to 231,000 in the last week of January, reflecting the impact of severe winter weather on the job market, potentially exacerbating economic uncertainty.
- Disconnection Between Growth and Employment: Despite GDP growth reaching an annual rate of 4.4% in Q3 last year, challenges remain for low-income households, highlighting a “K-shaped” recovery that may exacerbate social inequality.
See More
