[Press Release] Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Operating cash flow increased 22% to $21.8 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $17.8 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2017. Free cash flow increased to $10.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $9.6 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2017. Free cash flow less lease principal repayments decreased to $4.1 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $5.4 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2017. Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases decreased to $546 million for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.4 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2017.
Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 506 million on June 30, 2018, compared with 502 million one year ago.
Net sales increased 39% to $52.9 billion in the second quarter, compared with $38.0 billion in second quarter 2017. Excluding the $760 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 37% compared with second quarter 2017.
Operating income increased to $3.0 billion in the second quarter, compared with operating income of $628 million in second quarter 2017.
Net income increased to $2.5 billion in the second quarter, or $5.07 per diluted share, compared with net income of $197 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, in second quarter 2017.
“We want customers to be able to use Alexa wherever they are,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “There are now tens of thousands of developers across more than 150 countries building new devices using the Alexa Voice Service, and the number of Alexa-enabled devices has more than tripled in the past year. Our partners are creating a wide variety of new Alexa-enabled devices and experiences, including soundbars from Polk and Sonos; headphones from Jabra; smart home devices from ecobee and First Alert; Windows 10 PCs from Acer, HP, and Lenovo; and cars from automakers including BMW, Ford, and Toyota.”
In Amazon's official press release, they list all of their highlights for Q2. Marketplace Strategy has listed out a few of highlights that stood out to us that we believe will make the greatest impact on brands:
- Amazon added new Alexa capabilities, including calendaring features, such as the ability to move meetings via voice; new information on current events like the Royal Wedding, World Cup, and NBA Playoffs; Remember This, a new feature which enables Alexa to remember important information such as birthdays, anniversaries, and more; new ways to navigate and control video content with Alexa, including integrations with TiVo, Dish, Netflix, and DirecTV, and new ways for the blind and visually impaired community to interact with Alexa with the launch of Tap to Alexa and global expansion of Alexa Captioning.
- The Alexa Skills store now offers more than 45,000 skills created by third-party developers, including entertainment and gaming skills like Jurassic World Revealed, Westworld: The Maze, Skyrim Very Special Edition, When in Rome, and Hotel Transylvania Stories. Additionally, customers can now use Alexa to control more than 13,000 smart home devices from over 2,500 unique brands.
- Amazon announced Alexa for Hospitality, which brings the convenience of Alexa to hotels, vacation rentals, and other hospitality locations. Offered by invitation, Alexa for Hospitality lets hoteliers create new voice-first experiences so guests can ask Alexa for hotel information, play music in their room, request guest services, and more.
- Alexa is available on even more products via the Alexa Voice Service, including soundbars from Polk and Sonos; headphones from Jabra; smart home devices from ecobee and First Alert; Windows 10 PCs from Acer, HP, and Lenovo; and select vehicles from BMW, Ford, and Toyota.
- Amazon introduced new machine learning tools for developers to make Alexa skills even more engaging and discoverable, including a feature that allows U.S. customers to launch skills using more natural phrases and requests; the ability for developers to turn text into lifelike speech using Amazon Polly, for free; and the release of the software development kit for Python that allows developers to more easily build Alexa skills. Amazon also expanded the ability for developers to earn money or sell goods and services through their Alexa skills using in-skill purchasing or Amazon Pay.
- The Alexa Fund invested in new companies, including Aaptiv, DefinedCrowd, Novel Effect, Tact.ai, and Sensible Object, and kicked off the second round of the Alexa Accelerator powered by Techstars, a program empowering entrepreneurs who are innovating voice technology.
- Amazon announced an offering that helps entrepreneurs build their own companies by delivering Amazon packages. Business owners can grow their companies by accessing Amazon’s delivery technology and package volume, as well as receiving discounts on a suite of assets and services such as vehicle leases and comprehensive insurance. Additionally, Amazon committed $1 million to fund startup costs for eligible military veterans to start their own delivery businesses.
