Amazon Will Be First Trillion Dollar Stock, Says Forrester Analyst
Amazon shares jumped after hours Thursday, after the company trounced earnings expectations for the second quarter.
The e-commerce giant posted profit of $5.07 a shareーmore than double estimates and compared to just $0.40 a year ago.
Driving that growth was the company's cloud business, Amazon Web Services, which saw revenue surge almost 50 percent to more than $6.1 billion.
But while Amazon remains the clear leader in the space, Forrester Research retail analyst Sucharita Kodali pointed out that the company can't rest on its laurels.
"The question is, does cloud just get commoditized and does that ultimately bring prices down and compress margins," she said. "Companies like Microsoft and others are not going to simply stand by and let Amazon just completely dominate the market. You will see innovation in the space, you will likely see very, very competitive offers."
Still, Kodali said she expects Amazon to ultimately beat Apple in the race to $1 trillion. She said one of the things the company has going for it, is its ability to beat expectations in almost any business it decides to enter.
"They now have a physical fulfillment business that competes with FedEx and UPS," she said. "They have a media business that competes with everyone from Netflix to HBO and Disney. Then, of course, they have their marketing business that competes with Google, and the AWS business that's competitive with so many of the large technology giants that are out there."
Shares of Amazon were up almost 4 percent after the earnings report. The company closed the day with a market cap of $904 billion, just behind Apple which was worth $958 billion.
For more on this video, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/amazon-jumps-on-promise-of-more-growth).
Decentralized talent network Braintrust recently closed an atypical equity deal that involved investors buying $100 million in Braintrust tokens, the company's cryptocurrency. Braintrust's talent network is built on blockchain technology, which the company says allows it to be owned and built by users, instead of a centrally-controlled corporation. Braintrust users can also earn tokens for their contributions to the network and its growth. Braintrust co-founder Adam Jackson joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Blue Origin launched its third manned mission over the weekend with 'Good Morning America' host Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard on board, alongside several Blue Origin investors.
This comes after the spaceflight firm launched two successful missions to the edge of space earlier this year. How will these missions set up Blue Origin for success as it competes with SpaceX and other companies for space tourism domination and more? Joey Roulette, space reporter at The New York Times, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Editorial and stock photo provider Getty Images is gearing up to make its public debut via a SPAC merger with CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II bringing it to a $4.8 billion valuation. CEO Craig Peters joined Cheddar to break down the decision to go public and noted that the merger will help to pay down debt. "That's going to really enable a lot of additional free cash flow and financial flexibility into the business," he noted. "That's just going to allow us to just invest more aggressively into the business to accelerate what is already accelerating growth." Peters also discussed the legacy image platform's place going forward in the expanding world of digital assets like NFTs and the metaverse.
Headspace Health has just launched the 'Headspace for Teens' social impact initiative, which will offer free access to the Headspace app for all teens ages 13 - 18 in America. Alice Nathoo, head of social impact at Headspace joins Cheddar News to talk about the program.
Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about Visa's commitment and the partnerships the company has established to make crypto a conventional form of currency. He noted that banks are becoming more receptive to digital currency as their customers move portions of money to crypto platforms and also explained steps Visa is taking to make them more climate conscious.
Boxed, an e-commerce grocery platform that sells bulk consumables to businesses and household customers, began trading under the ticket symbol "BOXD" after completing a transaction with SPAC Seven Oaks Acquisition. Chieh Huang, co-founder and CEO of Boxed joins Cheddar News to talk about the company's growth.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
