Tech giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has frozen hiring in parts of its cloud computing Amazon Web Services (AWS) division, as per a New York Post report. The news comes days after the New York Times reported that the company was freezing corporate hiring in its retail business. Ahead of this Thursday’s earnings report, the freezes could be a concern for investors.
Several companies have hit the brakes on hiring and some are even reducing their headcount due to a tough macro backdrop. As per the report, an AWS spokesperson confirmed that parts of the division have halted hiring new workers as they have met their hiring requirements. That said, the spokesperson added that there are areas in which the division has “thousands of job openings.”
The spokesperson did not specify how many job openings were impacted by the hiring freeze and the areas of AWS involved.
The spokesperson explained, “Across Amazon, our many different businesses are at various stages of evolution, and we expect to keep adjusting our hiring strategies in each of these businesses at various junctures.”
Amazon’s sales growth has decelerated in recent quarters after seeing robust top-line growth earlier in the pandemic. However, the company’s AWS division has shown more resilience compared to its retail business. Amazon’s AWS division is benefiting from accelerated digitization since the pandemic.
The AWS division is more profitable than the retail division. It generated 16.3% of the overall Q2 net sales and $5.7 billion in operating income. Meanwhile, the retail business posted a loss of $2.4 billion in the second quarter.
Amazon is scheduled to announce its third-quarter results on October 27. Investors will keenly look for more details on how the company is faring during these challenging times.
Is Amazon Stock a Buy or Sell?
Amazon’s stock has plunged 28% so far this year amid the broader tech sell-off. However, Wall Street analysts remain bullish on the stock. AMZN stock scores the Street’s Strong Buy consensus rating based on 34 Buys and one Hold. The average Amazon stock price prediction of $170 implies nearly 42% upside potential from current levels.
