Amazon becomes world's first public company to lose $1tn in market value

Shares in e-commerce and cloud company fell 4.3% on Wednesday, pushing its market value to about $879bn

The logo of US online retail company Amazon is seen at the distribution centre in Staten Island, New York. AP
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Amazon.com is the world’s first public company to lose a trillion dollars in market value as a combination of rising inflation, tightening monetary policies and disappointing earnings updates triggered a historic selloff in the stock this year.

Shares in the e-commerce and cloud company fell 4.3 per cent on Wednesday, pushing its market value to about $879 billion from a record close at $1.88 trillion on July 2021.

Amazon and Microsoft were neck and neck in the race to breach the unwelcome milestone, with the Windows software maker close behind after having lost $889bn from a November 2021 peak.

While technology and growth stocks have been punished throughout the year, fears of a recession have further dampened sentiment in the sector.

The top five US technology companies by revenue have seen nearly $4tn in market value evaporate this year.

The world’s largest online retailer has spent this year adjusting to a sharp slowdown in e-commerce growth as shoppers resumed pre-pandemic habits. Its shares have fallen almost 50 per cent amid slowing sales, soaring costs and a jump in interest rates.

Since the start of the year, co-founder Jeff Bezos has seen his fortune dwindle by about $83bn to $109bn, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

Last month, Amazon projected the slowest revenue growth for a holiday quarter in the company’s history as shoppers reduce their spending in the face of economic uncertainty.

That sent its market value below $1tn for the first time since the pandemic-fueleld rally in tech stocks more than two years ago.

Updated: November 10, 2022, 5:41 AM