Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Forward-Looking Statements
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding guidance, industry prospects, or future results of operations or financial position, made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are forward-looking. We use words such as anticipates, believes, expects, future, intends, and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Actual results and outcomes could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, among others, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and customer demand and spending, inflation, interest rates, regional labor market constraints, world events, the rate of growth of the internet, online commerce, cloud services, and new and emerging technologies, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products and services sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income or other taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of claims, litigation, government investigations, and other proceedings, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, variability in demand, the degree to which we enter into, maintain, and develop commercial agreements, proposed and completed acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. In addition, global economic and geopolitical conditions and additional or unforeseen circumstances, developments, or events may give rise to or amplify many of these risks. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or outcomes to differ significantly from management’s expectations, are described in greater detail in Item 1A of Part II, “Risk Factors.”
For additional information, see Item 7 of Part II, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Overview” of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosures of contingent liabilities in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Critical accounting estimates are those estimates made in accordance with GAAP that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the financial condition or results of operations of the Company. Based on this definition, we have identified the critical accounting estimates addressed below. We also have other key accounting policies, which involve the use of estimates, judgments, and assumptions that are significant to understanding our results. For additional information, see Item 8 of Part II, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Note 1 — Description of Business, Accounting Policies, and Supplemental Disclosures” of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 1 — Accounting Policies and Supplemental Disclosures,” of this Form 10-Q. Although we believe that our estimates, assumptions, and judgments are reasonable, they are based upon information presently available. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions, judgments, or conditions.
Inventories
Inventories, consisting of products available for sale, are primarily accounted for using the first-in first-out method, and are valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value. This valuation requires us to make judgments, based on currently available information, about the likely method of disposition, such as through sales to individual customers, returns to product vendors, or liquidations, and expected recoverable values of each disposition category. These assumptions about future disposition of inventory are inherently uncertain and changes in our estimates and assumptions may cause us to realize material write-downs in the future. As a measure of sensitivity, for every 1% of additional inventory valuation allowance as of March 31, 2024, we would have recorded an additional cost of sales of approximately $330 million.
In addition, we enter into supplier commitments for certain electronic device components and certain products. These commitments are based on forecasted customer demand. If we reduce these commitments, we may incur additional costs.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. (federal and state) and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Tax laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change, with or without notice, due to economic, political, and other conditions, and significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. There are many transactions that occur during the ordinary course of business for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. In addition, our actual and forecasted earnings are subject to
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change due to economic, political, and other conditions and significant judgment is required in determining our ability to use our deferred tax assets.
Our effective tax rates could be affected by numerous factors, such as changes in our business operations, acquisitions, investments, entry into new businesses and geographies, intercompany transactions, the relative amount of our foreign earnings, including earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, losses incurred in jurisdictions for which we are not able to realize related tax benefits, the applicability of special tax regimes, changes in foreign exchange rates, changes in our stock price, changes to our forecasts of income and loss and the mix of jurisdictions to which they relate, changes in our deferred tax assets and liabilities and their valuation, changes in the laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations related to tax, including changes to the global tax framework, competition, and other laws and accounting rules in various jurisdictions. In addition, a number of countries have enacted or are actively pursuing changes to their tax laws applicable to corporate multinationals.
We are also currently subject to tax controversies in various jurisdictions, and these jurisdictions may assess additional income tax liabilities against us. Developments in an audit, investigation, or other tax controversy could have a material effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which that development occurs, as well as for prior and subsequent periods. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these proceedings to determine the adequacy of our tax accruals. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final outcome of audits, investigations, and any other tax controversies could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash flow information is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
March 31, Twelve Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024 2023 2024
Cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities $ 4,788 $ 18,989 $ 54,330 $ 99,147
Investing activities (15,806) (17,862) (54,313) (51,889)
Financing activities 6,354 (1,256) 14,082 (23,489)
Our principal sources of liquidity are cash flows generated from operations and our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balances, which, at fair value, were $86.8 billion and $85.1 billion as of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024. Amounts held in foreign currencies were $23.5 billion and $16.7 billion as of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024. Our foreign currency balances include British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Euros, Indian Rupees, and Japanese Yen.
Cash provided by (used in) operating activities was $4.8 billion and $19.0 billion for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. Our operating cash flows result primarily from cash received from our consumer, seller, developer, enterprise, and content creator customers, and advertisers, offset by cash payments we make for products and services, employee compensation, payment processing and related transaction costs, operating leases, and interest payments. Cash received from our customers and other activities generally corresponds to our net sales. The increase in operating cash flow for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, was due to an increase in net income, excluding non-cash expenses, and changes in working capital. Working capital at any specific point in time is subject to many variables, including variability in demand, inventory management and category expansion, the timing of cash receipts and payments, customer and vendor payment terms, and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
Cash provided by (used in) investing activities corresponds with cash capital expenditures, including leasehold improvements, incentives received from property and equipment vendors, proceeds from asset sales, cash outlays for acquisitions, investments in other companies and intellectual property rights, and purchases, sales, and maturities of marketable securities. Cash provided by (used in) investing activities was $(15.8) billion and $(17.9) billion for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, with the variability caused primarily by purchases, sales, and maturities of marketable securities and cash capital expenditures. Cash capital expenditures were $13.1 billion and $13.9 billion during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, which primarily reflect investments in technology infrastructure (the majority of which is to support AWS business growth) and in additional capacity to support our fulfillment network. We expect cash capital expenditures to meaningfully increase in 2024, primarily driven by investments in technology infrastructure. We made cash payments, net of acquired cash, related to acquisition and other investment activity of $3.5 billion and $3.4 billion during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. We funded the acquisition of 1Life Healthcare, Inc. (One Medical) in 2023 with cash on hand. In Q3 2023, we invested $1.25 billion in a note from Anthropic, which is convertible to equity. In Q1 2024, we invested $2.75 billion in a second convertible note.
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Cash provided by (used in) financing activities was $6.4 billion and $(1.3) billion for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. Cash inflows from financing activities resulted from proceeds from short-term debt, and other and long-term debt of $12.8 billion and $338 million for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. Cash outflows from financing activities resulted from payments of short-term debt, and other, long-term debt, finance leases, and financing obligations of $6.4 billion and $1.6 billion in Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. Property and equipment acquired under finance leases was $8 million and $42 million during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024.
We had no borrowings outstanding under the two unsecured revolving credit facilities or the commercial paper programs, and we had $352 million of borrowings outstanding under our Credit Facility as of March 31, 2024. See Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 5 — Debt” for additional information.
Certain foreign subsidiary earnings and losses are subject to current U.S. taxation and the subsequent repatriation of those earnings is not subject to tax in the U.S. We intend to invest substantially all of our foreign subsidiary earnings, as well as our capital in our foreign subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S. in those jurisdictions in which we would incur significant, additional costs upon repatriation of such amounts.
Our U.S. taxable income is reduced by accelerated depreciation deductions and increased by the impact of capitalized research and development expenses. U.S. tax rules provide for enhanced accelerated depreciation deductions by allowing us to expense a portion of qualified property, primarily equipment. These enhanced deductions are scheduled to phase out annually from 2023 through 2026. Additionally, effective January 1, 2022, research and development expenses are required to be capitalized and amortized for U.S. tax purposes, which delays the deductibility of these expenses. Cash paid for U.S. (federal and state) and foreign income taxes (net of refunds) totaled $619 million and $458 million for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024.
As of December 31, 2023 and March 31, 2024, restricted cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $503 million and $480 million. See Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 4 — Commitments and Contingencies” and “Financial Statements — Note 5 — Debt” for additional discussion of our principal contractual commitments, as well as our pledged assets. Additionally, we have purchase obligations and open purchase orders, including for inventory and capital expenditures, that support normal operations and are primarily due in the next twelve months. These purchase obligations and open purchase orders are generally cancellable in full or in part through the contractual provisions.
We believe that cash flows generated from operations and our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balances, as well as our borrowing arrangements, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating cash needs for at least the next twelve months. However, any projections of future cash needs and cash flows are subject to substantial uncertainty. See Item 1A of Part II, “Risk Factors.” We continually evaluate opportunities to sell additional equity or debt securities, obtain credit facilities, obtain finance and operating lease arrangements, enter into financing obligations, repurchase common stock, pay dividends, or repurchase, refinance, or otherwise restructure our debt for strategic reasons or to further strengthen our financial position.
The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities would be dilutive to our shareholders. In addition, we will, from time to time, consider the acquisition of, or investment in, complementary businesses, products, services, capital infrastructure, and technologies, which might affect our liquidity requirements or cause us to secure additional financing, or issue additional equity or debt securities. There can be no assurance that additional credit lines or financing instruments will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. In addition, economic conditions and actions by policymaking bodies are contributing to changing interest rates and significant capital market volatility, which, along with any increases in our borrowing levels, could increase our future borrowing costs.
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Results of Operations
We have organized our operations into three segments: North America, International, and AWS. These segments reflect the way the Company evaluates its business performance and manages its operations. See Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 8 — Segment Information.”
Overview
Macroeconomic factors, including inflation, increased interest rates, significant capital market and supply chain volatility, and global economic and geopolitical developments, have direct and indirect impacts on our results of operations that are difficult to isolate and quantify. In addition, changes in fuel, utility, and food costs, interest rates, and economic outlook may impact customer demand and our ability to forecast consumer spending patterns. We expect some or all of these factors to continue to impact our operations into Q2 2024.
Net Sales
Net sales include product and service sales. Product sales represent revenue from the sale of products and related shipping fees and digital media content where we record revenue gross. Service sales primarily represent third-party seller fees, which includes commissions and any related fulfillment and shipping fees, AWS sales, advertising services, Amazon Prime membership fees, and certain digital media content subscriptions. Net sales information is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Net Sales:
North America $ 76,881 $ 86,341
International 29,123 31,935
AWS 21,354 25,037
Consolidated $ 127,358 $ 143,313
Year-over-year Percentage Growth:
North America 11 % 12 %
International 1 10
AWS 16 17
Consolidated 9 13
Year-over-year Percentage Growth, excluding the effect of foreign exchange rates:
North America 11 % 12 %
International 9 11
AWS 16 17
Consolidated 11 13
Net Sales Mix:
North America 60 % 60 %
International 23 22
AWS 17 18
Consolidated 100 % 100 %
Sales increased 13% in Q1 2024 compared to the comparable prior year period. Changes in foreign exchange rates reduced net sales by $164 million for Q1 2024. For a discussion of the effect of foreign exchange rates on sales growth, see “Effect of Foreign Exchange Rates” below.
North America sales increased 12% in Q1 2024 compared to the comparable prior year period. The sales growth primarily reflects increased unit sales, including sales by third-party sellers, advertising sales, and subscription services. Increased unit sales were driven largely by our continued focus on price, selection, and convenience for our customers, including from our fast shipping offers.
International sales increased 10% in Q1 2024 compared to the comparable prior year period. The sales growth primarily reflects increased unit sales, including sales by third-party sellers, advertising sales, and subscription services. Increased unit sales
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were driven largely by our continued focus on price, selection, and convenience for our customers, including from our fast shipping offers. Changes in foreign exchange rates reduced International net sales by $248 million for Q1 2024.
AWS sales increased 17% in Q1 2024 compared to the comparable prior year period. The sales growth primarily reflects increased customer usage, partially offset by pricing changes primarily driven by long-term customer contracts.
Operating Income (Loss)
Operating income (loss) by segment is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Operating Income (Loss)
North America $ 898 $ 4,983
International (1,247) 903
AWS 5,123 9,421
Consolidated $ 4,774 $ 15,307
Operating income increased from $4.8 billion in Q1 2023 to $15.3 billion in Q1 2024. We believe that operating income is a more meaningful measure than gross profit and gross margin due to the diversity of our product categories and services.
The increase in North America operating income in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased unit sales and increased advertising sales, partially offset by increased shipping and fulfillment costs and increased technology and infrastructure costs.
The International operating income in Q1 2024, as compared to the operating loss in the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased unit sales and increased advertising sales, partially offset by increased shipping and fulfillment costs. Changes in foreign exchange rates did not significantly impact operating income for Q1 2024.
The increase in AWS operating income in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased sales, decreased payroll and related expenses, and a reduction in depreciation and amortization expense from our change in the estimated useful lives of our servers, partially offset by spending on technology infrastructure that was primarily driven by additional investments to support AWS business growth. Changes in foreign exchange rates positively impacted operating income by $67 million for Q1 2024.
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Operating Expenses
Information about operating expenses is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Operating Expenses:
Cost of sales $ 67,791 $ 72,633
Fulfillment 20,905 22,317
Technology and infrastructure 20,450 20,424
Sales and marketing 10,172 9,662
General and administrative 3,043 2,742
Other operating expense (income), net 223 228
Total operating expenses $ 122,584 $ 128,006
Year-over-year Percentage Growth (Decline):
Cost of sales 2 % 7 %
Fulfillment 3 7
Technology and infrastructure 38 0
Sales and marketing 22 (5)
General and administrative 17 (10)
Other operating expense (income), net (11) 2
Percent of Net Sales:
Cost of sales 53.2 % 50.7 %
Fulfillment 16.4 15.6
Technology and infrastructure 16.1 14.3
Sales and marketing 8.0 6.7
General and administrative 2.4 1.9
Other operating expense (income), net 0.2 0.2
Cost of Sales
Cost of sales primarily consists of the purchase price of consumer products, inbound and outbound shipping costs, including costs related to sortation and delivery centers and where we are the transportation service provider, and digital media content costs where we record revenue gross, including video and music.
The increase in cost of sales in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased product and shipping costs resulting from increased sales, partially offset by fulfillment network efficiencies, including lower transportation costs. Changes in foreign exchange rates reduced cost of sales by $190 million for Q1 2024.
Shipping costs were $19.9 billion and $21.8 billion in Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. Shipping costs to receive products from our suppliers are included in our inventory and recognized as cost of sales upon sale of products to our customers. We expect our cost of shipping to continue to increase to the extent our customers accept and use our shipping offers at an increasing rate, we use more expensive shipping methods, and we offer additional services. We seek to mitigate costs of shipping over time in part through achieving higher sales volumes, optimizing our fulfillment network, negotiating better terms with our suppliers, and achieving better operating efficiencies. We believe that offering low prices to our customers is fundamental to our future success, and one way we offer lower prices is through shipping offers.
Costs to operate our AWS segment are primarily classified as “Technology and infrastructure” as we leverage a shared infrastructure that supports both our internal technology requirements and external sales to AWS customers.
Fulfillment
Fulfillment costs primarily consist of those costs incurred in operating and staffing our North America and International fulfillment centers, physical stores, and customer service centers and payment processing costs. While AWS payment processing and related transaction costs are included in “Fulfillment,” AWS costs are primarily classified as “Technology and infrastructure.” Fulfillment costs as a percentage of net sales may vary due to several factors, such as payment processing and related transaction
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costs, our level of productivity and accuracy, changes in volume, size, and weight of units received and fulfilled, the extent to which third-party sellers utilize Fulfillment by Amazon services, timing of fulfillment network and physical store expansion, the extent we utilize fulfillment services provided by third parties, mix of products and services sold, and our ability to affect customer service contacts per unit by implementing improvements in our operations and enhancements to our customer self-service features. Additionally, sales by our sellers have higher payment processing and related transaction costs as a percentage of net sales compared to our retail sales because payment processing costs are based on the gross purchase price of underlying transactions.
The increase in fulfillment costs in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to increased sales and investments in our fulfillment network, partially offset by fulfillment network efficiencies. Changes in foreign exchange rates increased fulfillment costs by $14 million for Q1 2024.
We seek to expand our fulfillment network to accommodate a greater selection and in-stock inventory levels and to meet anticipated shipment volumes from sales of our own products as well as sales by third parties for which we provide the fulfillment services. We regularly evaluate our facility requirements.
Technology and Infrastructure
Technology and infrastructure costs include payroll and related expenses for employees involved in the research and development of new and existing products and services, development, design, and maintenance of our stores, curation and display of products and services made available in our online stores, and infrastructure costs. Infrastructure costs include servers, networking equipment, and data center related depreciation and amortization, rent, utilities, and other expenses necessary to support AWS and other Amazon businesses. Collectively, these costs reflect the investments we make in order to offer a wide variety of products and services to our customers, including expenditures related to initiatives to build and deploy innovative and efficient software and electronic devices and the development of a satellite network for global broadband service and autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing services.
We seek to invest efficiently in numerous areas of technology and infrastructure so we may continue to enhance the customer experience and improve our process efficiency through rapid technology developments, while operating at an ever increasing scale. Our technology and infrastructure investment and capital spending projects often support a variety of product and service offerings due to geographic expansion and the cross-functionality of our systems and operations. We expect spending in technology and infrastructure to increase over time as we continue to add employees and infrastructure. These costs are allocated to segments based on usage. The decrease in technology and infrastructure costs in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to a reduction in depreciation and amortization expense from our change in the estimated useful life of our servers and decreased payroll and related costs associated with technical teams responsible for expanding our existing products and services and initiatives to introduce new products and service offerings, partially offset by an increase in spending on infrastructure. See Item 7 of Part II, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Overview” of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of how management views advances in technology and the importance of innovation.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing costs include advertising and payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities, including sales commissions related to AWS. We direct customers to our stores primarily through a number of marketing channels, such as our sponsored search, third-party customer referrals, social and online advertising, television advertising, and other initiatives. Our marketing costs are largely variable, based on growth in sales and changes in rates. To the extent there is increased or decreased competition for these traffic sources, or to the extent our mix of these channels shifts, we would expect to see a corresponding change in our marketing costs.
The decrease in sales and marketing costs in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to decreased payroll and related expenses for personnel engaged in marketing and selling activities, and decreased advertising expenses.
While costs associated with Amazon Prime membership benefits and other shipping offers are not included in sales and marketing expense, we view these offers as effective worldwide marketing tools, and intend to continue offering them indefinitely.
General and Administrative
The decrease in general and administrative costs in Q1 2024, compared to the comparable prior year period, is primarily due to a decrease in payroll and related expenses.
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Other Operating Expense (Income), Net
Other operating expense (income), net was $223 million and $228 million for Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, and was primarily related to asset impairments and the amortization of intangible assets.
Interest Income and Expense
Our interest income was $611 million and $993 million during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, primarily due to an increase in prevailing rates. We generally invest our excess cash in AAA-rated money market funds and investment grade short- to intermediate-term marketable debt securities. Our interest income corresponds with the average balance of invested funds based on the prevailing rates, which vary depending on the geographies and currencies in which they are invested.
Interest expense was $823 million and $644 million during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, and was primarily related to debt and finance leases. See Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 3 — Leases and Note 5 — Debt” for additional information.
Other Income (Expense), Net
Other income (expense), net was $(443) million and $(2.7) billion during Q1 2023 and Q1 2024. The primary components of other income (expense), net are related to equity securities valuations and adjustments, equity warrant valuations, and foreign currency. Included in other income (expense), net is a marketable equity securities valuation gain (loss) of $(467) million and $(2.0) billion in Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, from our equity investment in Rivian.
Income Taxes
Our income tax provision for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $948 million, which included $48 million of net discrete tax expense. Our income tax provision for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $2.5 billion, which included $558 million of net discrete tax benefits. See Item 1 of Part I, “Financial Statements — Note 7 — Income Taxes” for additional information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Regulation G, Conditions for Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures, and other SEC regulations define and prescribe the conditions for use of certain non-GAAP financial information. Our measures of free cash flows and the effect of foreign exchange rates on our consolidated statements of operations meet the definition of non-GAAP financial measures.
We provide multiple measures of free cash flows because we believe these measures provide additional perspective on the impact of acquiring property and equipment with cash and through finance leases and financing obligations.
Free Cash Flow
Free cash flow is cash flow from operations reduced by “Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives.” The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most comparable GAAP cash flow measure, “Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities,” for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024 (in millions):
Twelve Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 54,330 $ 99,147
Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives (57,649) (48,998)
Free cash flow $ (3,319) $ 50,149
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ (54,313) $ (51,889)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ 14,082 $ (23,489)
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Free Cash Flow Less Principal Repayments of Finance Leases and Financing Obligations
Free cash flow less principal repayments of finance leases and financing obligations is free cash flow reduced by “Principal repayments of finance leases” and “Principal repayments of financing obligations.” Principal repayments of finance leases and financing obligations approximates the actual payments of cash for our finance leases and financing obligations. The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow less principal repayments of finance leases and financing obligations to the most comparable GAAP cash flow measure, “Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities,” for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024 (in millions):
Twelve Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 54,330 $ 99,147
Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives (57,649) (48,998)
Free cash flow (3,319) 50,149
Principal repayments of finance leases (6,544) (3,774)
Principal repayments of financing obligations (226) (304)
Free cash flow less principal repayments of finance leases and financing obligations $ (10,089) 46,071
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ (54,313) $ (51,889)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ 14,082 $ (23,489)
Free Cash Flow Less Equipment Finance Leases and Principal Repayments of All Other Finance Leases and Financing Obligations
Free cash flow less equipment finance leases and principal repayments of all other finance leases and financing obligations is free cash flow reduced by equipment acquired under finance leases, which is included in “Property and equipment acquired under finance leases, net of remeasurements and modifications,” principal repayments of all other finance lease liabilities, which is included in “Principal repayments of finance leases,” and “Principal repayments of financing obligations.” All other finance lease liabilities and financing obligations consists of property. In this measure, equipment acquired under finance leases is reflected as if these assets had been purchased with cash, which is not the case as these assets have been leased. The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow less equipment finance leases and principal repayments of all other finance leases and financing obligations to the most comparable GAAP cash flow measure, “Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities,” for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024 (in millions):
Twelve Months Ended
March 31,
2023 2024
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities $ 54,330 $ 99,147
Purchases of property and equipment, net of proceeds from sales and incentives (57,649) (48,998)
Free cash flow (3,319) 50,149
Equipment acquired under finance leases (1) (285) (306)
Principal repayments of all other finance leases (2) (625) (761)
Principal repayments of financing obligations (226) (304)
Free cash flow less equipment finance leases and principal repayments of all other finance leases and financing obligations $ (4,455) $ 48,778
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ (54,313) $ (51,889)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities $ 14,082 $ (23,489)
___________________
(1) For the twelve months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024, this amount relates to equipment included in “Property and equipment acquired under finance leases, net of remeasurements and modifications” of $517 million and $676 million.
(2) For the twelve months ended March 31, 2023 and 2024, this amount relates to property included in “Principal repayments of finance leases” of $6,544 million and $3,774 million.
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All of these free cash flows measures have limitations as they omit certain components of the overall cash flow statement and do not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. For example, these measures of free cash flows do not incorporate the portion of payments representing principal reductions of debt or cash payments for business acquisitions. Additionally, our mix of property and equipment acquisitions with cash or other financing options may change over time. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flows measures only as a complement to our entire consolidated statements of cash flows.
Effect of Foreign Exchange Rates
Information regarding the effect of foreign exchange rates, versus the U.S. Dollar, on our net sales, operating expenses, and operating income is provided to show reported period operating results had the foreign exchange rates remained the same as those in effect in the comparable prior year period. The effect on our net sales, operating expenses, and operating income from changes in our foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar is as follows (in millions):
Three Months Ended March 31,
2023 2024
As
Reported Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) At Prior
Year
Rates (2) As Reported Exchange
Rate
Effect (1) At Prior
Year
Rates (2)
Net sales $ 127,358 $ 2,436 $ 129,794 $ 143,313 $ 164 $ 143,477
Operating expenses 122,584 2,575 125,159 128,006 236 128,242
Operating income 4,774 (139) 4,635 15,307 (72) 15,235
___________________
(1) Represents the change in reported amounts resulting from changes in foreign exchange rates from those in effect in the comparable prior year period for operating results.
(2) Represents the outcome that would have resulted had foreign exchange rates in the reported period been the same as those in effect in the comparable prior year period for operating results.
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Guidance
We provided guidance on April 30, 2024, in our earnings release furnished on Form 8-K as set forth below. These forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of April 30, 2024, and are subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic and geopolitical conditions and customer demand and spending (including the impact of recessionary fears), inflation, interest rates, regional labor market constraints, world events, the rate of growth of the internet, online commerce, cloud services, and new and emerging technologies, as well as those outlined in Item 1A of Part II, “Risk Factors.”
Second Quarter 2024 Guidance
• Net sales are expected to be between $144.0 billion and $149.0 billion, or to grow between 7% and 11% compared with second quarter 2023. This guidance anticipates an unfavorable impact of approximately 60 basis points from foreign exchange rates. In first quarter 2024 the impact from Leap Year added approximately 120 basis points to the year-over-year net sales growth rate.
• Operating income is expected to be between $10.0 billion and $14.0 billion, compared with $7.7 billion in second quarter 2023.
• This guidance assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.