Why Amazon Stock Jumped 55% in the First Half of 2023
Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) jumped 55.2% in the first half of 2023, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Interestingly, the market wasn't immediately impressed whenever the company reported quarterly financial results. But investors' optimism is steadily improving as Amazon cuts expenses in some areas and continues to invest cash in other areas.
To elaborate, Amazon reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 on Feb. 2, and the stock fell about 8% the following day. Then on April 27, the company reported financial results for the first quarter of 2023, with the stock falling about 4% the day after that. Therefore, the headline numbers didn't catalyze the stock upward.
By contrast, Amazon saw strong, steady gains as it made announcements regarding its capital allocation plans -- how it's going to spend money. The company laid off many workers, discontinued certain products, and shuttered some operations, including permanently closing some underperforming Amazon Go convenience store locations.
Source Fool.com
