EP329 - Amazon Q2 2025 Results
Welcome back to the Jason & Scot Show! In episode 329, recorded on August 1st, 2025, we dive into the highly anticipated Amazon Q2 earnings report alongside other critical tech giants' earnings results. Your hosts, Jason Goldberg (the retail geek) and Scott Wingo, bring their expert insights and analysis of a rollercoaster earnings season that saw mixed results across the board.
Kicking off the episode, Scot sets the stage with a review of Google’s recent earnings results, which painted a mixed picture. While search revenue indicated a solid 12% growth, concerns about the impact of AI on search operations raised eyebrows. Google Cloud did not exhibit the explosive growth anticipated, leading investors to remain cautious. Following this, we turn our focus to the simultaneous announcements from Microsoft and Meta. Each company churned impressive earnings and strategic maneuvers, surpassing expectations and highlighting strong growth driven largely by their AI advancements.
Transitioning to Amazon, the top story emerges: the company reported Q2 earnings that, unfortunately, mirrored Google's mixed performance rather than the triumphs seen with Microsoft and Meta. Despite a revenue growth of 12% and operating income surpassing expectations, investors reacted negatively to AWS's performance, which failed to keep pace with its competitors. Jason and Scott dissect the factors leading to Amazon's stock drop post-earnings call and the implications for its sprawling empire.
Amazon’s retail performance, particularly in North American and international markets, sparks a lively discussion. Notably, the North American retail business beat expectations by 2%, and international retail excelled by 7%. The hosts clarify that while the overall performance was commendable, it left much to be desired when juxtaposed against AWS's stunted growth and other tech players' successes.
Delving deeper, Jason emphasizes the company’s continued enhancements to its supply chain, signalling improvements that strengthen their retail operations, crucial for maintaining growth amidst increasing competition. He also highlights an interesting trend: for the first time, first-party sales outpaced third-party sales, reflecting a noteworthy shift in Amazon’s marketplace dynamics as consumer spending leans towards everyday essentials.
As the discussion progresses, Scott raises a critical point about the evolving landscape of online advertising and the pivotal role it plays in driving Amazon’s growth. Despite a slight deceleration in year-over-year growth for the ads business, it remains a bright spot for Amazon, contrasting starkly with AWS’s performance and hinting at the challenges faced in balancing user experience against monetization strategies.
The conversation pivots towards AWS, where the hosts dissect the figures that fell below investor expectations—the margins declining for the first time since the previous year, raising questions about structural issues. The ambiguity
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