Amazon posts strong third-quarter results

Company touts benefits of regional fulfillment and delivery model

Amazon's posts strong third-quarter results (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) reported strong third-quarter results late Thursday, with diluted earnings per share of 94 cents easily beating consensus estimates of 55 cents and revenue up 13% to $143.1 billion.

Operating income more than quadrupled to $11.2 billion, while net income more than tripled to $9.9 billion.

The net income figure included a $1.2 billion pretax gain from Amazon’s investment in electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc.

Seattle-based Amazon touted the emerging benefits of migrating from a national hub-and-spoke delivery network to a fulfillment and delivery model based on eight regions. Finishing its second quarter in existence, the regionalization model has spawned direct links between fulfillment and delivery nodes, Amazon said. It has reduced the number of line-haul lanes and built density in existing ones, the company added. It also has lowered the cost to serve, while compressing the order-to-delivery cycle to same-day or next-day windows.

In comments to analysts, CEO Andy Jassy said the shift to regionalization was “such a significant  change in the network.” Its performance has exceeded even the company’s optimistic expectations, he said.

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Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.