Its owner, Jeff Bezos, reinforcing his position as the world’s richest person with a fortune of $138bn.
While most businesses have been hit hard by the impact of the pandemic and the looming recession, shares in Amazon have risen to a record high as hundreds of millions people stuck in lockdown conditions turn to the delivery giant to keep them fed and entertained. The shares continued to climb on Wednesday and were changing hands at $2,295. One month ago they were changing hands at $1,689.
Joshua Warner, an analyst at the London-based online trading firm IG Index, said:
“Amazon stock has rocketed to a new record high,” he added. “Of all the firms that might stand to benefit, Amazon is a clear winner.”
The US investment bank Cowen likened the impact of the lockdown to the Black Friday shopping frenzy in November.
“Covid-19 surge led to ‘Prime Day in March’,” the analyst said in a note to clients. “Amazon has seen an ‘enormous increase in demand’ as shoppers are forced to stay home, essentially creating an extended Prime Day/Black Friday type of situation.
Analysts expect Amazon to increase its annual sales by nearly 20% to reach $335bn.
While many companies across the world have been forced to make staff redundant or place them on government-funded furlough schemes, Amazon is hiring tens of thousands of staff. The additional workers will take Amazon’s global workforce to nearly 1 million.
BeZos has so far handed $100m (£80m) to the food bank charity Feeding America which represents less than 0.1% of his fortune.
Amazon has also been accused of not doing enough to protect its workers from the virus. The company this week fired two employees who criticised Amazon over allegedly unsafe conditions at some of its warehouses.
Other expanding fortunes
Reed Hastings
The founder and chief executive of Netflix has seen his estimated fortune rise by $195m so far this year to $5.1bn as shares in the entertainment service rose by 40% from the market nadir last month. Hastings owns 2.5% of the shares. Analysts said they expected more people stuck at home to sign up to the streaming service. Analysts at Pivotal Research Group said: “We believe the unfortunate Covid-19 situation is cementing Netflix’s global dominance .”
The founder and chief executive of Netflix has seen his estimated fortune rise by $195m so far this year to $5.1bn as shares in the entertainment service rose by 40% from the market nadir last month. Hastings owns 2.5% of the shares. Analysts said they expected more people stuck at home to sign up to the streaming service. Analysts at Pivotal Research Group said: “We believe the unfortunate Covid-19 situation is cementing Netflix’s global dominance .”
Tim SteinerThe co-founder and chief executive of Ocado has seen his the value of his stake jump 40% over the past month as shoppers flock to online supermarkets. Steiner owns about 4% of the shares, which are worth more than £400m at current prices. He is also in line for a £59m pay package to be voted on at Ocado’s AGM next month.
The WaltonsThe family behind Walmart, which also owns Asda in the UK, have seen their combined net worth rise 5% this year to $169bn. Shares in the US supermarket group have risen 23% from a low on 12 March. The Walton family own 51% of the shares.
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