Amazon has been testing a new online service that matches truck drivers with shippers since last year, taking its first step into the lucrative online freight brokerage space, according to two people familiar with the service.READ MORE...

On an adjusted basis, the y-o-y growth of this ‘Other’ segment in Q4 2018 stood at 38%, while the same ranged between 51% and 73% in previous quarters last year. Amazon initially saw good success in its advertising segment and became a major contender to Google and Facebook.But that has faded this year and advertisers are saying that they are now focussing on building strategies and weighing how well Amazon fits into them. On the other hand, Google (GOOGL) has been dominating the digital advertising ecosystem and has optimized its features, providing high returns for investors.

Amazon’s revenue numbers will likely show the slowest growth in four years when the company reports first-quarter results after the bell on Thursday, but investors will see more profitability in exchange.READ MORE...

E-commerce giant Amazon and French retailer Casino are strengthening their ties by opening lockers in more than 1,000 Casino stores including Monoprix, Monop, Geant, Hyper Casino, Casino Supermarche, Leaderprice, Viva and Spar and more of the French retailer’s products to be available on Amazon. This move was anticipated following Amazon’s purchase of brick-and-mortar American food retailer Whole Foods last year. The partnership comes at a time when Casino is looking at selling assets and cutting debt to address investors’ concerns over its finances. As part of the deal, Amazon and Monoprix will also extend their partnership on Amazon’s Prime Now grocery delivery service outside Paris and into new cities by the end of this year. This partnership has been closely watched as Monoprix was the first French retailer to agree to sell products via Amazon. Amazon had long term plans to launch services in French supermarket which is currently dominated by Carrefour and Leclerc, operating a

eBay shares jumped more than +6% during after-hours trading Tuesday, after the company reported higher-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. The e-commerce behemoth’s adjusted earnings of $0.67 per share exceeded analysts’ expectations of $0.63.Revenue of $2.6 billion came in higher than analysts’ estimates of $2.58 billion. For the full-year 2019, the company forecasts that its adjusted earnings would range between $1.94 and $2.04 per share.

Defense Department spokeswoman Elissa Smith on Thursday announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are the only two companies that meet the minimum requirements for the U.S. Defense Department’s contract for cloud computing services,after IBM and Oracle have been ruled out. The deal, known as JEDI, will be awarded to one of the two companies in July 2019. U.S Defense Department eliminated IBM and Oracle from its cloud computing services contract that could be worth as much as $10 billion in the next 10 years.This is a major loss for IBM and Oracle as it would have helped them overtake Amazon and Microsoft in the public cloud market. However, the deal is only one element in the DOD’s overall mission to modernize information technology as the deal demands multiple clouds from multiple vendors. The Pentagon has allocated $61.9 million for JEDI in the budget for the 2020 fiscal year.

Revenue of $3.31 billion fell slightly short of analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Same-store sales declined -1.4% in the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of a decline around -1.3%. For the full fiscal year, the company incurred a loss of -$137.2 million, which is its first ever annual loss.Revenue fell -2.6% for the year. Looking ahead, Bed Bath & Beyond forecasts that its fiscal 2019 earnings would range between $2.11 and $2.20 a share, excluding certain charges.

The winner will be announced as soon as July 2019, the New York Times said. Amazon’s cloud business, called Amazon Web Services (AWS), seems to be emerging as  a major growth driver for the company.Revenue from the unit exceeded $7.4 billion in the fourth quarter. Microsoft, on the other hand, does not disclose figures separately for its Azure cloud segment; but Morgan Stanley analysts led by Keith Weiss estimated that Azure generated more than $3 billion in revenue for Microsoft in the fourth quarter as mentioned in the analysts’ note to clients earlier this month. The Defense Department hasn't released any statement regarding the matter on its website as yet.

Amazon’s plan to launch thousands of internet satellites to connect billions of people around the world represents a serious and underappreciated entrant in the space business, multiple analysts and industry executives told CNBC. Read More...

Internet retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W) seems to be defying the odds in my opinion.The stock has performed incredibly well over the last few months, but the fundamentals of the company are really weak compared to other companies. Looking at the daily chart, we see that Wayfair more than doubled from its December low to the recent high.

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced Thursday that they have agreed to divorce terms, with MacKenzie Bezos set to hold on to a chunk of Amazon stock. Read More...

In 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods for nearly $14 billion in anticipation of turning shoppers into Prime members, along with gaining entry into the $860 billion U.S. grocery industry. Now the e-commerce giant is struggling to convince its Prime members to shop at Whole Foods, even after offering an extra discount on sale items exclusively for Prime shoppers along with splashy discounts on items like salmon and avocados. But despite these steps, only 18% of Prime members shop at Whole Foods and 70% Prime members never step into a Whole Foods. The major reason for this is Whole Foods’ high prices, as cheap natural foods have now gone mainstream and are available at much lower price at rival supermarkets. Taking the cue from Whole Foods, other grocers like Kroger (KR), Albertsons and Aldi have also expanded their organic aisle but when it comes to price they are generally cheaper than Whole Foods.Kroger's Simple Truth grew 15% last year and is now a $2.3 billion brand.

The EU aims to announce whether Amazon’s data practices will be investigated further in the coming months, the institution’s competition chief told CNBC. In September, Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition policy in Europe, opened a preliminary probe into Amazon’s use of data on its third-party merchants.READ MORE...

Blue Apron shares jumped +16% on Wednesday, on news that the meal-kit company’s CEO Bradley Dickerson has resigned. Dickerson became CEO only a few months after the company went public in 2017.Following his resignation, Dickerson will be replaced by Linda Kozlowski. Kozlowski served as chief operating officer of Etsy from May 2016 to December 2018.  The company has been struggling with sluggish sales for a while, and its shares are down nearly -90 percent since its IPO.

In a move to extend quality delivery beyond Prime customers, Whole Foods plans to reduce costs of hundreds of its items with a focus on produce, such as greens, tomatoes and tropical fruits.  The grocer’s last major price cut for all customers was in 2017, while in 2018 it had been more focused on Amazon Prime members offering an additional 10% off on discounted items. Amazon acquired Whole Foods in the summer of 2017 in anticipation of converting more Prime members to Whole Foods customers.Last year, Prime subscribers reached more than 100 million in number who could not only enjoy free two day shopping and weekly Whole Foods deals, but could also enjoy music and movie streaming services with Amazon’s $119 year membership. But the latest development extends focus beyond the Prime members who can now save an average of 20% on the new reduced-price items. But the grocer will continue to target Prime members and rumors have it that it will double the number of exclusive deals fo

Amazon is set to lower prices at Whole Foods – for the third time. The e-commerce giant, which acquired grocery chain Whole Foods in 2017, will slash prices of fresh produce by an average of about -20%. The move seems to be part of Amazon’s burgeoning ambitions in the grocery space.We will continue to focus on both lowering prices and bringing customers the quality they trust and the innovative assortment they expect from our brand," said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. In what could be yet another ammo against established giants Walmart and Kroger, Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a whole new grocery chain by the end of the year.

Bed, Bath & Beyond slashed its workforce this week, apparently responding to consumers’ burgeoning preference for online shopping. “We were able to reassign many of those impacted by this realignment to other available store and corporate roles, but ultimately we had to reduce our headcount,”  a spokesperson for Bed Bath said in a statement.“This decision was a difficult but necessary step, and we are committed to treating all associates across the organization fairly and with respect.” The company did not officially release the exact number of workers affected. Citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter, CNBC reported that the home goods retail chain laid off 150 out of its 65,000 employees this week.

The news led to the home goods retailer ‘s shares soaring +25% Tuesday. Citing anonymous people familiar with the matter, CNBC reported that Legion Partners Asset Management, Macellum Advisors and Ancora Advisors are joining forces to use their combined 5% stake in Bed, Bath & Beyond to launch a proxy fight at the retail giant.They would rather consider sales of underperforming assets such as Buy Buy Baby and decor retail chain Cost Plus World Market (according to the CNBC report citing another person familiar with the matter). Analysts have been expecting Bed Bath & Beyond's revenue to decline -10.2% to $3.3 billion when it reports quarterly results on April 10.

After several months of beta testing, the e-commerce giant Amazon has finally decided to enter the $129 billion digital advertising market - presently dominated by Google and Facebook Inc. - by selling video spots on its smartphone shopping app. The brief video spot on the shopping app seems to be quite a handy choice by Amazon, in comparison to scrolling through Facebook or watching videos on Google’s YouTube.It gives advertisers a valuable spot, since people searching for products on the app have a higher propensity to buy over the options provided by FB and Google. Amazon had initially restrained itself from selling advertising space on its site for fear of disrupting the shopping experience, but selling video ads through its shopping app seems to work just fine for the company.

Amazon now allows customers who buy medicines from them to use their flexible savings account or health savings account, often referred to as HSA or FSA, to get discounts. These programs allow customers with health insurance to reduce their out-of-pocket expenses by setting aside a portion of their pre-tax income to cover medical expenses like prescription medicines. The move is intelligent to stay relevant in a market where rivals like Walmart (WMT) already offer pharmacy services and also have a storefront for HSA and FSA products. In the summer of 2018, Amazon has also acquired an internet pharmacy company, PillPack, gesturing an interest to add prescription medicines in its portfolio.But PillPack, which primarily serves to older customers who take multiple medications, hasn’t been fully integrated with Amazon yet. Amazon’s current interest in the prescription drugs market will not be without challenges owing to the complex web of intermediaries that sit between the drug ma