One of the world's largest and best-known companies in Amazon Inc. this morning reported a record profit of US$3.6 billion on revenue of US$59.7 billion for the quarter ending March 31 2019. This compares to a profit of US$1.6 billion on sales of US$51 billion in the prior corresponding quarter as Amazon lives up to its e-commerce and cloud computing juggernaut reputation.
The company also provided guidance for the quarter ending June 30 2019 for operating income to come in between $2.6 billion to $3.6 billion on revenues expected to be between $59.5 billion and $63.5 billion.
Amazon is famous for being probably the best-performing stock of all time going from less than US$2 per share in 1997 to close to US$2,000 per share today, despite it only recently posting profits and never paying a dividend to investors.
It's the company's focus on reinvesting operating cash flows into new business ventures such as its very profitable cloud computing business that has paid off in spades for investors as its entrepreneurial CEO and management team are often labelled the best business people of their generation.
For Australian investors it's easy to buy Amazon shares via an online brokerage such as Stake or one like Commsec, which is operated by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).
Even if you decide Amazon shares aren't for you the rise of online shopping and growth of the digital economy are two investing themes posing a lot of threats and opportunities to almost every company on the S&P/ ASX200 (ASX: XJO).
While one company taking a similarly entrepreneurial approach to business while operating as a discount online retailer is Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN). It tends to divide the bulls and bears quite sharply, but could be worth a look for anyone wedded to the local market.
