Amazon has become a trillion dollar company, the second U.S. company to cross that mark in market value after Apple. But more than the “trillion” number, what’s significant is the e-commerce giants’ remarkable growth story.
For years, the company went without generating positive earnings, and instead chose to focus on expanding its online retail (a major factor behind deteriorating margins of brick-and-mortar stores), foraying into diverse product/services and acquiring firms to cement its position in the various industries. Today, Amazon’s offerings encompass retail, grocery, home appliances, business technology, entertainment and healthcare.
In Q2 2018, its net income came in at $2.5 billion – compared to the year-ago period’s $197 million. Its cloud computing business, advertising revenues and Prime membership sales were major drivers of its burgeoning growth in earnings in recent times.