Amazon is gaining ground after Jeff Bezos reveals how many people pay for Prime (AMZN)

pulse

April 19, 2018 12:51 PM

It's the first time Jeff Bezos has said how many people pay for Prime.

It's the first time the company has revealed the number of Prime subscribers.
Shares of Amazon were up 1.67% Thursday afternoon.

Amazon was gaining ground Thursday afternoon, up 1.67%, after CEO Jeff Bezos released a letter to shareholders saying 100 million people paid for Prime globally. This is the first time Amazon has revealed the number of paid Prime subscribers.

The big reveal from Bezos comes as Amazon finds itself in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the company.

"Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon," Trump tweeted earlier in April. "THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country...not a level playing field!"

Last week, by executive order, Trump ordered the creation of a task force to look into the US Postal Service's struggles. And while the order didn't name Amazon, it asked the task force to examine "the expansion and pricing of the package delivery market and the USPS's role in competitive markets," among other things.

Details of how much Amazon pays to the postal service are not publicly known.

Bezos' letter to shareholders comes ahead of the company's first-quarter results, which are scheduled to be released next Thursday. Wall Street analysts are looking for the e-commerce giant to earn an adjusted $3.10 a share on revenue of $49.94 billion, Bloomberg data shows.

Amazon shares were up 30.64% this year through Wednesday.

pulse