Day: April 28, 2023

These moves contributed to Amazon’s US$3.17 billion profit in the period ended Mar 31, compared with a loss of $3.84 billion, a year earlier.

But this did little to draw investors. David Klink, an analyst at Huntington National Bank, said the company’s cloud slowdown was “tremendous”.

“You’re not seeing (that) at either Microsoft or Google,” said Klink, whose bank owned US$129 million in Amazon stock as of Thursday.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE?

Amazon has sought new revenue all the while. Olsavsky told reporters that the economy has brightened internationally.

“It’s good to see inflation going down there,” he said. “It’s good to see consumer confidence increasing.”

In North America, Amazon’s largest market, demand held up, he said. But “you see signs that customers are looking for value” and “probably putting off some discretionary purchases”.

Ultimately, the online retailer reported better-than-expected sales of US$127.36 billion in the first three months of the year, and it forecast revenue between US$127 billion and US$133 billion in the second quarter.

Its economy-wary customers aside, Amazon aimed to project confidence for its cloud longer-term.

Jassy said the growing adoption of generative AI, which can create text, imagery and other content from past data, represented a huge opportunity for Amazon’s cloud. One reason is its proprietary chips that he said can power much of what businesses wish to do with AI; another is Amazon’s own new AI tools.

Likewise, Olsavsky told reporters, Amazon had seen no shift in the competitive balance among cloud providers. His comments followed a financial report by Microsoft this week that exceeded analysts’ expectations as the Amazon rival drew business through AI. AWS sales growth slowed to 15.8 per cent in the first quarter.

Dennis Dick, an equity trader and market structure analyst at Triple D Trading, said shareholders were likely to sell.

“AWS growth slowing is a signal for investors to take profits,” he said. 

Supercharge Your Business Growth: The Essential Role of Professional Services in Management and Expansion

Embarking on the entrepreneurial journey can be both exciting and challenging. The road to success is paved with both unique obstacles and opportunities. It’s crucial to recognize the power of professional services in addressing these challenges and propelling your business to new heights. By understanding the importance of these services, acknowledging the disparities within the professional landscape, and taking active steps to seek out support and hire professionals, you can create a solid foundation for success that not only allows your business to soar.

Recognizing the Common Obstacles Faced by Black Canadian Entrepreneurs

As a Black Canadian entrepreneur, it’s essential to acknowledge that you’re not alone in facing certain unique challenges. These challenges can range from limited access to capital and difficulty securing loans to navigating the complexities of business plan writing and contract bidding. Understanding these common obstacles and acknowledging that they are not exclusive to your business is the first step in proactively addressing them. By identifying these challenges early on, you can take the necessary steps to overcome them and ensure your business thrives.

As an entrepreneur, you expect to wear many hats. In fact, 86% of Black businesses have less than 5 employees*, making it tempting to become a jack of all trades. But it’s essential to be attuned to the signs that it might be time to bring in a professional. For example, a recent study found that 39% of Black business owners admitting to being late in completing their tax returns*. As a business owner it is imperative to manage your financial records and staying up to date with tax obligations is not only vital for your business’s financial health but also for maintaining compliance with government regulations. Financial advisors, accountants, legal and IT service providers can address specific challenges and help to overcome hurdles that are common for business owners and these professionals can take this burden off your plate.

Top 5 reasons to hire professionals to support your business

Gaining Access to Expert Knowledge

Think about how, by partnering with a marketing professional, you can reach new customers, expand your target audience, and increase your overall market share. This leads to a stronger, more recognizable brand that attracts loyal customers and generates consistent revenue.

Professional service providers bring valuable expertise and specialized knowledge to your business, empowering you to navigate challenges, uncover new opportunities, and make well-informed decisions.

Boosting Efficiency and Productivity

Engaging professionals lets you focus on your core business activities, ensuring your time and resources are optimally utilized while the experts take care of the specialized tasks, leading to a more productive business that gets more done.

For instance, with the assistance of a professional bookkeeper or accountant, your business benefits from well-organized financial records and timely tax filings. This not only helps you avoid penalties but also provides you with valuable financial insights, enabling you to make data-driven decisions for the future success of your business.

Gaining a Competitive Edge

Professional services provide valuable insights and expertise that can help you stay ahead of industry trends, implement innovative strategies, and adapt to the dynamic business environment, giving your business a competitive advantage.

Engaging a skilled graphic designer or web developer results in a professional, visually appealing brand identity and online presence. This enhances your credibility and customer trust, ultimately leading to higher customer retention and a positive reputation in your industry.

Building Valuable Connections

Collaborating with professional service providers can introduce you to important networks and relationships within your industry, opening doors to new partnerships, collaborations, and business opportunities.

An example, working with an experienced professional in proposal writing and contract bidding can lead to winning more contracts and securing new business opportunities. This will contribute to the growth and expansion of your business, increasing its competitiveness in the market.

Growing and Adapting with Ease

As your business expands, professional services can support a seamless and efficient scale-up of your operations. They also offer flexibility by providing resources and assistance when needed, without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees.

The elephant in the room – professional service cost

Even though hiring professional services might feel like an added expense initially, it can lead to substantial cost savings over time. Professionals can prevent costly mistakes, streamline processes, and uncover cost-saving opportunities in your business.

For example, hiring a financial advisor or accountant can help you optimize your financial management, leading to improved cash flow, better budgeting, and increased profits. This provides a strong financial foundation for your business, paving the way for long-term success.

At FACE, we recognize that for start up companies and growing businesses that the cost to hire professional services can be a challenge. With that in mind, we partnered with TD to launch the Propelling Black Entrepreneurship program that will offer 50 grants ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 to qualifying Black entrepreneurs across Canada as subsidies to contract corporate business service providers.

Our goal through this program is to support Black Canadian entrepreneurs in the creation of their business and financial documents, including business plans, financial statements, and tax filings to help improve access to financing. The program will start in April, to sign-up for details visit facecoalition.com/resources

*Source: DBPA LABOUR MARKET NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2022, ISED CANADA 2021.

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday reported quarterly sales and profit ahead of expectations but said that it was seeing a sharp drop in cloud revenue growth as businesses grappled with an uncertain economy. April growth rates for Amazon Web Services (AWS) were about 5 percentage points lower than in the first quarter, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts on a conference call. Shortly after he spoke, Amazon lost after-hours share gains of about 12% to trade near its price at the close of the regular session.

“AWS growth slowing is a signal for investors to take profits,” said Dennis Dick, equity trader and market structure analyst at Triple D Trading. “I think AMZN is priced for perfection, any signs of slowing growth and the stock likely gets hit.” Addressing ongoing worries about the economy, CEO Andy Jassy has aimed to slash spending across Amazon’s vast array of divisions.

Last month, he said the company would axe jobs from its lucrative cloud and advertising businesses, expanding Amazon’s corporate layoffs since November to 27,000 employees. Its full and part-time head count dropped 10% as of the just-ended quarter to about 1.47 million workers, including changes to warehouse staffing. The company likewise has ended entire services, including on Wednesday when it said it would pull its lineup of Halo health trackers.

In the middle of such cost cuts, Amazon has sought new revenue. Olsavsky told reporters that the economy had brightened internationally at the same time as Amazon increased its ad sales. Regarding international sales, he said: “It’s good to see inflation going down there. It’s good to see consumer confidence increasing.”

In North America, he said, demand had held up, even though “you see signs that customers are looking for value” and “probably putting off some discretionary purchases.” Ultimately, the online retailer reported better-than-expected sales of $127.36 billion in the first three months of the year, and it forecast revenue between $127 billion and $133 billion in the second quarter.

Amazon’s outlook has long been intertwined with the fortunes of AWS. The growth of AWS slowed to 15.8% in the first quarter, while recession-wary businesses scrutinized their spending. That is poised to fall further, the company said. Still, Olsavsky told reporters, Amazon had seen no shift in the competitive balance among cloud providers. His comments followed a financial report by Microsoft Corp this week that exceeded analysts’ expectations as the Amazon rival drew business through AI.

“We like the fundamentals we are seeing in AWS and believe there is much growth ahead,” Jassy added in a statement. Amazon’s net profit stood at $3.17 billion in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $3.84 billion, a year earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Amazon.com Inc. fell after warning that growth in its cloud computing business is cooling, dashing hopes that the company’s most profitable division would weather an otherwise lackluster environment for technology spending.

On a conference call Thursday, after reporting first-quarter profit and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates, executives jolted investors with the disclosure that sales growth at Amazon Web Services had slowed further in April. AWS revenue rose 16% to $21.4 billion in the first quarter, the weakest growth rate since Amazon began breaking out the unit’s sales. 

On Friday’s (April 21) Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with Matt Schragge, the General Manager of the Twentynine Palms Water District. Schragge was asked how new businesses and retail development in Twentynine Palms has impacted the water district, and Schragge said

“Water service has definitely gone up, I wouldn’t say in record numbers. If I had to guess 1%, 2% a year, not that much. But what’s going in Downtown, with the farmer’s market, the Downtown Business Association, Project Phoenix, Freedom Plaza, and some of the other things are just exciting. It’s fun to be a part of, it’s fun that our little water district can say, “What can we do to help out to make this an easy process?”

Schragge spoke to the future of the Twentynine Palms Water District, and its specific capacity for accommodating future businesses, saying

“We have 17 million gallons of storage. The operators are really big on keeping those fairly full. We could pretty comfortably serve ten thousand customers, and there’s room for growth.”

The economy is slowing. The financial system is wobbly. The FED is raising rates next week into a (likely) recession. Companies are laying people off and replacing them with AI.

What a time to be alive.

Market

Prices as of 4 pm EST, 4/27/23

Macro

In its first meeting under new governor Kazuo Ueda, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to keep interest rates ultra-low.

• As expected, the central bank kept its yield curve control policy unchanged.

• It also scrapped guidance and announced a plan to review past monetary policy, setting the stage for future policy changes.

• The yen fell sharply on the announcement while government bonds reversed course higher.

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Pending home sales in the US dropped unexpectedly in March, falling by 5.2%.

• It was the largest decline since September.

• Inventory is failing to keep up with demand as homeowners with low mortgage rates remain reluctant to sell.

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The US economy expanded at a slower pace than expected in the first quarter with GDP rising just 1.1%.

• Despite the strongest increase in consumer spending (3.7%) in 2 years, a sharp decline in business investment and a drop in inventories were a drag on growth.

• Meanwhile, the personal consumption expenditures index—the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation—increased by 4.2% (from 3.9% in Q4), well above the central bank’s 2% target.

Stocks

Cost-cutting measures across US companies continue by way of layoffs.

• After laying off 700 workers in November, Lyft announced it will eliminate over 1,000 additional jobs (~26% of its workforce).

• Dropbox said it plans to cut 500 jobs (~16% of employees) to combat slowing growth and economic headwinds.

• Gap Inc—which cut 500 corporate positions in September—said it would eliminate another 1,800 jobs as a part of a broad restructuring to become more nimble.

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US stocks rallied yesterday as investors looked past a weak first-quarter GDP report.

• Fueled by better-than-expected earnings from Big Tech, equities enjoyed their best day since January 6.

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2% and 2.4%, respectively.

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BofA’s Michael Hartnett, however, thinks the rally could soon come to an end as corporate profits drop and the labor market fizzles.

• He warns that despite the risk of a hard landing for earnings, markets are currently pricing just a 4% decline in profits.

• Hartnett expects interest rates will remain high and advised clients to sell the S&P 500 above 4,200, which is less than 2% higher than yesterday’s close.

 

Energy

OPEC is at odds with the International Energy Administration (IEA).

• The group claims the agency is stoking volatility after warning production cuts risked fueling inflation.

• The cartel also criticized the IEA for its call to halt investments in new oil and gas projects.

• Meanwhile, oil prices are on track for the 6th straight month of losses.

• That’s the longest such streak in more than 8 years.

Earnings

Here are some of yesterday’s highlights:

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN): $0.31 EPS (vs. $0.20 expected), $127.36 billion in sales (vs. $124.7B expected).

• Sales for Amazon Web Services topped analysts’ estimates but marked a deceleration from the previous quarter.

• Shares initially popped but reversed course after a warning over ongoing weakness in cloud revenue growth.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC): -$0.04 EPS (vs. -$0.15 expected), $11.7 billion in sales (vs. $11.04B expected).

• Earnings and revenue dropped 133% and 36% YoY, respectively.

• It was the 5th straight quarter of declining sales and the largest quarterly loss in company history.

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What we’re watching today:

• Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)

• Chevron (NYSE:CVX)

• Sony Group (NYSE:SONY)

• Colgate (NYSE:CL)

• Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR)

• TC Energy (NYSE:TRP)

• W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC)

• Ares Management (NYSE:ARES)

• Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

• Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)

Top Headlines

• Chinese distrust: A campaign by Chinese authorities could raise risks for Western companies operating in the region.

• Smartphones: Sony’s president predicts weakness in the smartphone market will continue over the next year.

• SAFE Banking Act: Cannabis firms could get a boost from the reintroduction of a bill that would provide much-needed banking services to the industry.

• Punked: Jerome Powell spent 16 minutes on a call with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• AI disclosures: The EU plans to require AI tools to disclose copyright materials used in building their systems.

• Fed talk: According to a language processing model, Fed sentiment is increasingly dovish.

• Egg relief: Wholesales egg prices are expected to drop to $1 in the coming weeks for the first time since 2021.

• China housing: Individual mortgages in China grew by the smallest amount on record in Q1.

Crypto

Prices as of 4 pm EST, 4/27/23

• Compliance: Without a hint of irony, SEC chairman Gary Gensler said “the law is clear” for crypto exchanges.

• Crypto-friendly: Hong Kong regulators are urging banks to work with and provide financial services to properly licensed crypto firms.

• HODL: Long-term Bitcoin holders are profitable for the first time in nearly a year.

• Record fine: The CFTC imposed a $3.4 billion civic penalty in the largest-ever fraud case handled by the agency.

• Binance Japan: Binance will begin operations in the Japanese market in July.

Deals

• Oil sands: Suncor will buy TotalEnergies’ Canadian oil sands operation for $4.1 billion.

• Fitness IPO: Personal training and hardware startup Forme has priced its US IPO at $8 per share, the top end of its marketed range.

• British boutique: Deutsche Bank will buy UK broker Numis for $511 million in a surprise deal.

• Sportsbook: FanDuel owner Flutter won shareholder support for a US listing.

• Russian exit: Mercedes-Benz completed its exit from Russia this week after selling shares in its Russian subsidiaries to a local car dealer chain.

Meme Of The Day

The Canadian economy grew by 0.1 per cent in February, Statistics Canada said Friday.

In its latest report on economic growth, the federal agency’s preliminary estimate suggested real gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent in the first quarter.

The February figure came in lower than was expected by Statistics Canada as wholesale and retail trade as well as manufacturing all contracted.

Boosting real GDP in February was growth in the public sector, professional, scientific and technical services, construction and finance and insurance.

Statistics Canada revised up its January figure for real GDP to 0.6 per cent.

Recession possible

The Canadian economy is expected to stall this year and potentially enter a recession as high interest rates weigh on consumers and businesses.

The Bank of Canada is holding its key interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent, the highest it’s been since 2007.

The federal agency’s preliminary estimate for March suggests the economy contracted by 0.1 per cent.

“After sprinting out of the gate to start 2023, the Canadian economy had already hit a wall by March,” CIBC economist Andrew Granthan wrote in a client note.

The expected dip in real GDP is driven by continued declines in wholesale and retail trade, in addition to mining and quarrying.

But Grantham said the new data shouldn’t change much for the Bank of Canada’s outlook.

“Until there are clearer signs that slowing growth is also helping to ease core inflation, the Bank of Canada will continue to lean towards raising interest rates, even if a hike is not ultimately needed, with rate cuts not coming until 2024,” Grantham said.