Amazon

Here are the five pressure points for this Wednesday and Thursday’s earnings from Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple (and an Nvidia bonus). Big picture: The setup carries more risk than it did three months ago, as investor confidence is notably higher heading into this round of reports. That said, the key takeaway will likely remain that we are still in the early stages of AI adoption, and the largest technology companies continue to hold their ground.

When I hear about a sale, I wonder if the price was marked up just before the event. To better understand the true average sale price during Amazon’s recent Prime Big Deal Days, we spot-checked 50 random items on the sale day and rechecked prices a week later. We believe the week-later price reflects the true price, given that only a third of the items returned to their “original price.” On average, Prime Day yielded a 24% savings for shoppers compared to the price a week later. This savings is higher than the 16% we measured in 2023 for Cyber Monday, a small data point suggesting retailers are getting more aggressive with discounts.

We evaluated AI’s staying power based on March earnings from key tech providers. Growth rates are not slowing as quickly as many investors had feared, suggesting that AI’s momentum remains intact. Concerns about the pace of improvement in AI models may actually strengthen the case for increased investment. Fundamentals and the outlook for AI growth and investment are either stable or improving compared to three months ago — despite ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, macroeconomic conditions, and the speed of model innovation.

Deepwater’s second annual Frontier Tech Survey measures the American public’s viewpoint on emerging technologies, including AI, Electrification & Automation, the Creator Economy, and Relationship with Tech. Key Takeaways: AI – General usage is increasing but we are still early in the…

Since the beginning of time retailers have marked up products before putting them on sale to make the discount make more attractive. We spot-checked 50 random items advertised on Amazon's Cyber Monday page and found broad-based discounting continued after the end of the holiday. In other words, the discounts are not as attractive after a second glance.

March quarter investor takeaways were dominated by management commentary suggesting AWS's June quarter revenue growth would decline for the seventh consecutive quarter. While the focus on AWS is understandable, accounting for 118% of operating income in the quarter, it’s worth remembering that Amazon’s long-term growth story is more than AWS.

Hats off to the box office — 2022 has been a good year driven by the return to normal. Now that economies are reopening, top execs at Warner Brothers and other movie companies want back into theaters. Warner’s CEO, David…

US Healthcare accounts for 20% of the GDP. It’s not only a massive TAM, but it’s a sector that remains resilient even in the face of economic downturn. At the peak of the Great Recession (October 2009), the national unemployment…

The recent 8% bear market rally in the Nasdaq doesn’t hide what Amazon investors have faced over the past six months: a 35% decline. That decline compares to the Nasdaq down 23% over the same period. Underlying this gap is…

Amazon’s $8.5BN deal with MGM has officially closed. Not only does the acquisition open access to vaults of 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmy Awards, it also pronounces a final departure from the era…

Meta could bring NFTs to the masses via Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg mentioned during his speech at SXSW that Instagram plans to integrate NFTs in the coming months. With over 1BN MAUs, Instagram would dwarf existing players like OpenSea (1MN) and…

Tesla raises its prices by 5-10% in part due to the high price of nickel. While this past week has included two price hikes for the company, there’s a likelihood these prices will come down again. The most recent upgrades…