Amazon has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, revealing significant achievements and strategic initiatives. CEO Andy Jassy and CFO Brian Olsavsky highlighted the company’s accomplishments during a conference call held on August 1. The call was webcast live, with the audio and associated slides available for future reference on Amazon’s investor relations website.
Prime Day and Customer Satisfaction
In this quarter, Amazon celebrated its 10th Prime Day, marking it as the biggest shopping event in the company’s history. Prime members took advantage of millions of deals across more than 35 categories, purchasing more items than in any previous Prime Day event. The company’s commitment to fast delivery continues to delight customers, with over 5 billion units delivered on the same or next day, achieving the fastest speeds globally to date.
Amazon also expanded its selection in the U.S., introducing new brands like Aéropostale, Bumble Bumble, and Kiehl’s. Additionally, Grubhub+ is now free for Prime members in the U.S., allowing them to save an average of $300 annually on delivery fees and promotions.
Innovative Services and Global Reach
Amazon Pharmacy introduced RxPass for Prime members on Medicare, offering unlimited access to 60 widely used prescription medications for just $5 a month, with fast and free delivery. The company also launched Maestro, an AI-driven music playlist generator, and introduced an AI-powered search for Fire TV devices, enhancing user experience and innovation.
Further expanding its global presence, Amazon launched Amazon.co.za in South Africa, enabling local customers to shop from a wide array of brands and benefit from same-day and next-day delivery. The inaugural Upfront presentation showcased upcoming series, films, and sports content on Prime Video.
Entertainment and Sports Breakthroughs
Amazon MGM Studios released 19 films and series, including “Fallout” and “The Idea of You.” The company scored 62 Emmy nominations, with “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Fallout” among the top nominees. Amazon announced an 11-year streaming deal with the NBA and the WNBA, making Prime Video the exclusive streaming platform for select NBA and WNBA games starting in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Prime Video also unveiled its most extensive NFL schedule for the 2024 season, featuring exclusive coverage of Thursday Night Football, Black Friday Football, and the first-ever NFL Wild Card Playoff game.
Technology Advancements and Sustainability
In technology, Amazon announced the availability of advanced AI models in Amazon Bedrock and introduced AWS Graviton4-based compute instances, offering up to 30% better price performance. The company signed significant AWS agreements with leading global companies and startups, enhancing its technological capabilities and partnerships.
Amazon achieved its 100% renewable energy goal seven years ahead of schedule, with all operations, including data centres, powered by renewable energy in 2023. The company also replaced 95% of plastic air pillows with paper fillers in North America, furthering its sustainability efforts.
Strategic Partnerships and Future Plans
Amazon’s strategic partnerships include a $2 billion agreement with the Australian Government for a top-secret AWS Cloud to boost national defence capabilities. The company plans to launch an AWS infrastructure region in Taiwan by early 2025, allowing customers to securely run workloads with lower latency.
Amazon’s commitment to innovation extends to new business ventures, including satellite broadband with Vrio companies and public testing of self-driving robotaxi Zoox in Austin and Miami. The company was named a top U.S. company to work for by LinkedIn, ranking second overall and first in the technology sector.
With an additional $1.4 billion commitment to the Housing Equity Fund, Amazon aims to build and preserve affordable homes, increasing its total commitment to $3.6 billion. These initiatives demonstrate Amazon’s ongoing dedication to growth, innovation, and sustainability.
