Amazon is spending big to take on UPS and FedEx - CNBC
Amazon has long set its sights on being the fastest in the online delivery race. Its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday revealed just how much it’s willing to spend to get there.
On an earnings call with investors, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said the company’s capital expenditures, which include such things as logistics expansion and the costs of data centers, increased a whopping 80% over the trailing 12 months.
While the coronavirus pandemic pushed many businesses to slow spending, Amazon plowed profits back into physical expansion, growing its transportation and logistics presence across the country. Olsavsky said the company added more warehouses and grew its fleet of airplanes and linehaul trucks. Amazon also continues to grow its contracted delivery network, often distinguishable by blue Amazon-branded vans, to oversee more than 100,000 drivers.
All told, the company increased capacity of its in-house logistics operations, known as AMZL, by 50% year over year, Olsavsky said. Amazon expects to keep spending big in these areas throughout the remainder of 2021 and potentially into 2022.
Amazon has long set its sights on being the fastest in the online delivery race. Its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday revealed just how much it’s willing to spend to get there.
On an earnings call with investors, Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said the company’s capital expenditures, which include such things as logistics expansion and the costs of data centers, increased a whopping 80% over the trailing 12 months.
While the coronavirus pandemic pushed many businesses to slow spending, Amazon plowed profits back into physical expansion, growing its transportation and logistics presence across the country. Olsavsky said the company added more warehouses and grew its fleet of airplanes and linehaul trucks. Amazon also continues to grow its contracted delivery network, often distinguishable by blue Amazon-branded vans, to oversee more than 100,000 drivers.
All told, the company increased capacity of its in-house logistics operations, known as AMZL, by 50% year over year, Olsavsky said. Amazon expects to keep spending big in these areas throughout the remainder of 2021 and potentially into 2022.
