Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during a keynote address at AWS re:Invent 2024, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, at The Venetian Las Vegas on December 3, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Noah Berger | Getty Images
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy looked to reassure investors on the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, saying he’s “optimistic” the retail giant could emerge from the current tariff environment stronger than before.
“Given our really broad selection, low pricing and speedy delivery, we have emerged from these uncertain eras with more relative market segment share than we started and better set up for the future,” Jassy said. “I’m optimistic this could happen again.”
Jassy pointed to the Covid pandemic as an example of how the company’s broad selection and low prices helped “customers find what they want,” despite persistent economic uncertainty. Amazon was a big beneficiary of the coronavirus crisis, as many shoppers shunned physical stores and turned to the online retailer for both essential and non-essential goods. The company’s profit soared, along with its stock price.
The comments followed Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report, where the company beat expectations, but its operating income forecast for the current period came in light.
The company projected operating profit of $13 billion to $17.5 billion, compared with consensus estimates of $17.8 billion, according to LSEG. Amazon called out “tariff and trade policies” as one of several factors that could impact its guidance.
Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said there continues to be uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which caused the company to issue a wider guidance range.
“We generally have a wide range, but just the general uncertainty that we’re seeing and uncertainty of consumer demand and everything else is causing us to increase the range a bit,” Olsavsky said. “So we’ll see. We feel it’s an informed view of Q2 right now.”
Amazon and some third-party sellers “have pulled forward a number of items” in anticipation of the tariffs and to keep prices low, Jassy said.
As much as 70% of goods on Amazon come from China, meaning they’re exposed to higher import costs. Jassy said that while some sellers may have to pass those higher costs on to customers, not all of them will choose to raise prices.
“We have a lot of sellers in lots of different countries and not all of them are going to pursue the same tact,” Jassy said. “So I think when you’ve got larger diversity like we have, we have a better chance of some of those sellers deciding that they’re going to capture share and they’re not going to pass all or any of those tariffs on to customers.”
Jassy said the company is “heads down” and “pretty maniacally focused on” keeping prices low for consumers, though he acknowledged the outcome of the tariffs is hard to predict.
“It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen with tariffs right now,” he told investors. “It’s hard to tell where they’re going to settle and when they’re going to settle.”
