![\"Amazon](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/MW-HZ370_Amazon_20200130162608_ZG-1200x675.jpg\")
Published: May 3, 2020 at 1:41 p.m. ET, By Mark DeCambre<\/p>\n
Amazon.com Inc. unsurprisingly topped expectations for quarterly sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was comments from CEO Jeff Bezos, in a written statement accompanying the retailer\u2019s earnings report, that really drew the focus on Wall Street Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
\n\u2018If you\u2019re a shareowner in Amazon, you may want to take a seat, because we\u2019re not thinking small.\u2019\u2014 Jeff Bezos\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The remarks constituted arguably the lengthiest such statement from the world\u2019s richest man in a quarterly report and underscored the magnitude of the deadly disease that has left much of the world struggling to emerge from forced business shutdowns and a temporary cessation of normalcy to help limit the contagion\u2019s spread.<\/p>\n
In that environment, Amazon has prospered, serving as the go-to online delivery service, one that had previously managed to crush competitors through the sheer might of a $1.2 trillion behemoth. Some rivals, indeed, have buckled under the strain of the current environment even as Amazon\u2019s shares have soared 34% so far in 2020.<\/p>\n
Read: Amazon will spend $4 billion or more on coronavirus response, potentially wiping out Q2 profit<\/a><\/p>\n
However, Bezos shied away from how decisively the cloud-computing and consumer-services company has distanced itself from competitors, including long-established retailers like Macy\u2019s and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. who find themselves on the ropes<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Check out: Apple, Amazon and Gilead take anchor leg of earnings race with a big lead<\/a><\/p>\n
Instead, the Amazon boss focused on the road ahead.<\/p>\n
Bezos\u2019s statement highlights the costs that companies that survive this public health crisis will face in the coming weeks, months and years as they take steps to ensure the safety of workers and customers alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are inspired by all the essential workers we see doing their jobs \u2014 nurses and doctors, grocery store cashiers, police officers, and our own extraordinary frontline employees,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe service we provide has never been more critical, and the people doing the frontline work \u2014 our employees and all the contractors throughout our supply chain \u2014 are counting on us to keep them safe as they do that work,\u201d wrote Bezos. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to let them down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amazon reported $75 billion in sales in the first quarter, but its profit declined.<\/p>\n
Amazon\u2019s expected expenditures going forward also could deliver a hit to the company in the coming quarters. Shares of Amazon were down 5.5% in after-hours trades following gains during Thursday\u2019s regular trading session.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s stock has climbed 25% so far this year after a 6.6% decline on Friday, still a remarkable feat for the first three months of any year but one that comes with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index down 15% and 10%, respectively, in 2020, as of Thursday\u2019s close. The Nasdaq Composite Index was off just 0.9%, at that point.<\/p>\n
As Wall Street has been split into haves and have-nots amid the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>, Amazon has only strengthened its position among the former.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee asked Bezos to testify about an April 23 report in the Wall Street Journal<\/a> that alleges that the on-line retailer used data to develop products to compete against sellers on its platform. after Democratic leaders accused his deputies of perjury in past congressional testimony. The Journal report would contradict testimony by Amazon at a House Antitrust Subcommittee last year, reports CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Bezos\u2019s fortune, meanwhile, has surged by more than $24 billion since the pandemic took the broader market for a roller-coaster ride, according to Fortune<\/a>. That rise has lifted his net worth to a stunning $148.6 billion, according to Forbes<\/a>, making him by far the richest person in the world, even after relinquishing much of his wealth to his partner in divorce proceedings back in July.<\/p>\n
Check out Bezos\u2019s full statement below:<\/p>\n
\nFROM ONLINE SHOPPING TO AWS TO PRIME VIDEO AND FIRE TV, THE CURRENT CRISIS IS DEMONSTRATING THE ADAPTABILITY AND DURABILITY OF AMAZON\u2019S BUSINESS AS NEVER BEFORE, BUT IT\u2019S ALSO THE HARDEST TIME WE\u2019VE EVER FACED,\u201d SAID JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON FOUNDER AND CEO. \u201cWE ARE INSPIRED BY ALL THE ESSENTIAL WORKERS WE SEE DOING THEIR JOBS\u2014NURSES AND DOCTORS, GROCERY STORE CASHIERS, POLICE OFFICERS, AND OUR OWN EXTRAORDINARY FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES. THE SERVICE WE PROVIDE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CRITICAL, AND THE PEOPLE DOING THE FRONTLINE WORK\u2014OUR EMPLOYEES AND ALL THE CONTRACTORS THROUGHOUT OUR SUPPLY CHAIN\u2014ARE COUNTING ON US TO KEEP THEM SAFE AS THEY DO THAT WORK. WE\u2019RE NOT GOING TO LET THEM DOWN. PROVIDING FOR CUSTOMERS AND PROTECTING EMPLOYEES AS THIS CRISIS CONTINUES FOR MORE MONTHS IS GOING TO TAKE SKILL, HUMILITY, INVENTION, AND MONEY. IF YOU\u2019RE A SHAREOWNER IN AMAZON, YOU MAY WANT TO TAKE A SEAT, BECAUSE WE\u2019RE NOT THINKING SMALL. UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, IN THIS COMING Q2, WE\u2019D EXPECT TO MAKE SOME $4 BILLION OR MORE IN OPERATING PROFIT. BUT THESE AREN\u2019T NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. INSTEAD, WE EXPECT TO SPEND THE ENTIRETY OF THAT $4 BILLION, AND PERHAPS A BIT MORE, ON COVID-RELATED EXPENSES GETTING PRODUCTS TO CUSTOMERS AND KEEPING EMPLOYEES SAFE. THIS INCLUDES INVESTMENTS IN PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, ENHANCED CLEANING OF OUR FACILITIES, LESS EFFICIENT PROCESS PATHS THAT BETTER ALLOW FOR EFFECTIVE SOCIAL DISTANCING, HIGHER WAGES FOR HOURLY TEAMS, AND HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS TO DEVELOP OUR OWN COVID-19 TESTING CAPABILITIES. THERE IS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, AND THE BEST INVESTMENT WE CAN MAKE IS IN THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF OUR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF EMPLOYEES. I\u2019M CONFIDENT THAT OUR LONG-TERM ORIENTED SHAREOWNERS WILL UNDERSTAND AND EMBRACE OUR APPROACH, AND THAT IN FACT THEY WOULD EXPECT NO LESS.<\/em><\/p>\nRead on: Amazon\u2019s stock is falling as first-quarter profit comes in lower than expected<\/a><\/p>\n