What happened
Shares of the e-commerce juggernaut Amazon (AMZN 3.65%) were falling today as investors processed the disappointing quarterly financial results recently reported from two of Amazon's peers.
Additionally, Amazon's stock was tumbling today as investors continued to worry about rising inflation and how the Federal Reserve's action in response to it could slow down the economy. Those fears sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 2.7% this morning.
As of 11:39 a.m. ET, Amazon's stock had fallen 5.4%.
So what
Earlier this week, Walmart (WMT -0.06%) missed analysts' earnings expectation for its first quarter, which has sent its share price falling over the past few days. Then yesterday, Target (TGT 0.76%) reported adjusted earnings of $2.19, which was far below Wall Street's average estimate of $3.07 for the quarter. That sent Target's stock into a free-fall this morning, plunging 24%.
Image source: Amazon.
The worse-than-expected performance by two of Amazon's retail rivals is weighing down Amazon's stock today as investors worry that the same supply chain constraints and effects from rising inflation will hurt the online retailer as well.
This leads us to the next reason why Amazon's stock is stumbling today: Investors are getting increasingly anxious about the economy.
Inflation is still at a nearly 40-year high, and the Federal Reserve has committed itself to raising the federal funds rate to get it back down. That's going to take some time and will likely result in some aggressive rate hikes in the coming months.
Even with those moves, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said recently that he couldn't guarantee a so-called soft landing for the economy.
That's stoked fears among some investors that the Fed's moves could result in a recession, and it's causing some investors to sell their stocks, leading to a broader market drop.
Now what
It's not surprising that Amazon investors were nervous this morning. Two big U.S. retailers are experiencing the effects of inflation, long-standing supply chain problems, and rising fuel costs, which are all taking a bite out of profits.
And with the Fed taking big steps to tamp down inflation, some investors are exiting their stock positions and looking for safer places to put their money.
But as difficult as this time is, investors should remember to keep playing the long game, particularly with companies like Amazon, which have significant competitive advantages and are in a strong financial position to weather any potential economic storm.
