E-commerce

E-Commerce Giant, Amazon to Lay Off 10,000 Employees

Amazon to join a growing list of companies laying-off staff, the company plans to let go 10,000 in a few days

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2022

American multinational e-commerce company, Amazon has perfected plans to sack about 10,000 of its employees in the coming days, insider sources have confirmed.

The development is coming only a few weeks after Twitter and Facebook sacked thousands of their staff.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the lay off which is likely to begin this week will impact the company’s devices organization, retail division, and human resources. Two weeks ago, Amazon freezes its hiring process.

If the layoff comes to fruition, Amazon will be joining a growing list of big companies which include Microsoft, Twitter, Meta, and Intel among others that have laid off staff in recent times.

In most cases, the companies justify the layoff as a measure to prepare for a looming recession and a drop in demand for products.

Investors King could recall that Elon Musk lay off about half of Twitter’s workforce a few days after he completed the acquisition of the microblogging platform while Mark Zuckerberg, Meta announced the sacking of 11,000 employees, the largest layoff in the company’s history.

Amazon among other tech companies enjoyed a profitable season during the pandemic. This compelled most tech companies to hire more staff than necessary.

During the pandemic, consumers flocked to online shopping due to the protracted lockdown. This period produced Amazon’s most profitable era on record while the company doubled its workforce within two years.

However, as the pandemic subsided coupled with the ease of movement and reopening of the economy, Amazon’s profit receded and growth slowed to the lowest rate in 20 years.

Similarly, the company’s stock value has dropped to its lowest since the early days of the pandemic, losing about $1 trillion in value from a peak of $1.88 trillion.

Amazon (AMZN) is currently trading at $98.94 as of the time of this report. It is down by 45.17 percent in the last one year.

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E-commerce

Jumia Nigeria Appoints Sunil Natraj as CEO, Outlines Ambitious Expansion Plans

Former Jumia Ghana CEO to Lead E-Commerce Giant as Massimiliano Spalazzi Steps Down

Published

2 days ago

December 8, 2023

Investors King

Jumia Nigeria, a prominent player in the e-commerce sector, has announced the appointment of Sunil Natraj as its new CEO.

Natraj, the former CEO of Jumia Ghana, will take the helm of the e-commerce business in January 2024, succeeding Massimiliano Spalazzi, who has been with Jumia Group for 11 years and will be stepping down in December 2023.

The announcement came during a media parley held in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, with Francis Dufay, the CEO of Jumia Group, unveiling Natraj as the new leader.

Natraj expressed Jumia’s commitment to becoming a truly Nigerian company and continuing the initiatives started by Spalazzi.

“We want to continue what Spalazzi started,” Natraj stated, emphasizing Jumia’s vision to expand its presence beyond Lagos.

He disclosed plans to extend operations to additional Nigerian cities, with Akure and Ilorin on the radar and a focus on cities en route to Ibadan, Warri, and Benin in the first quarter of 2024.

The overarching strategy is to create a comprehensive network covering the entire country.

Dufay outlined the ambitious goal of targeting cities with populations exceeding 20,000 people, citing successful precedents in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal.

He acknowledged the challenges faced by Jumia, including a workforce reduction in Q4 2022 and a 73% cut in advertising budgets in Q3 2023.

Despite the hurdles, Dufay highlighted Nigeria as Jumia’s largest market and affirmed the company’s determination to navigate and thrive in the ever-evolving e-commerce landscape.

E-commerce

Alibaba Faces Rare Downgrade as PDD Surpasses It in Market Value

Published

1 week ago

December 1, 2023

Investors King

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. received an unusual downgrade from Wall Street on the same day it ceded its position as China’s most valuable e-commerce company to one of its primary competitors.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Alibaba’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) from overweight to equal-weight, concurrently lowering the price target from $110 to $90.

This marks the first downgrade for Alibaba’s US-listed shares since late June, according to Bloomberg data.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, including Eddy Wang and Gary Yu, expressed concerns about Alibaba’s slower-than-expected turnaround and the uncertainty introduced by the decision to withdraw the spinoff of its cloud business.

In a report dated Thursday, they stated, “brings uncertainty to the value-unlocking from reorganization.”

Simultaneously, Morgan Stanley named PDD Holdings Inc. as its top pick in China’s e-commerce sector, citing its favorable positioning amid the growing trend of consumer price sensitivity.

PDD, an eight-year-old upstart recognized for its successful Temu marketplace, closed Thursday trading in the US with a market capitalization of approximately $196 billion, surpassing Alibaba’s value for the first time.

PDD has experienced a remarkable 80% surge in value this year, while Alibaba has faced a 15% decline in US trading.

Although Alibaba has been a dominant force in China’s online shopping landscape for over a decade, PDD has managed to attract customers with competitive pricing and expand its reach globally.

Morgan Stanley’s move to downgrade Alibaba and elevate PDD underscores the shifting dynamics within China’s e-commerce sector.

Despite this downgrade, brokers remain predominantly bullish on Alibaba, with 44 buy ratings and eight hold recommendations for its ADRs. In comparison, PDD has 52 buy ratings and three holds.

E-commerce

Alibaba Scraps $11 Billion Cloud Spinoff Plans Over Chip Sales Woes

Published

3 weeks ago

November 17, 2023

Investors King

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has abandoned its $11 billion cloud business spinoff and public listing plans, citing the escalating US-China technological rivalry.

Chairman Joseph Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu, acknowledging the need for a “reset,” pointed to the increasing US restrictions on chip sales to China as a driving factor in the decision.

Wu emphasized the imperative to provide “cash to make investments” in the AI-driven landscape, requiring a robust and highly scaled infrastructure.

Wall Street responded swiftly to the surprise move, with Alibaba’s shares plummeting 9.1% in New York trading, wiping out over $20 billion of market value, marking their most substantial drop in over a year.

The decision comes amid Alibaba’s efforts to recover from the pandemic, navigate China’s tech industry crackdown, and compete with emerging players like PDD Holdings and ByteDance’s Douyin.

The Biden administration’s stringent export controls on chips critical for Alibaba’s cloud services, designed for AI use, played a pivotal role.

The cloud business, essential for Alibaba’s AI initiatives, faces challenges due to the US sanctions impacting chip supplies.

Instead of the spinoff, Alibaba will focus on organic growth for the cloud unit and issue its inaugural annual dividend of $2.5 billion.

This surprising move reflects the challenges posed by US-China tensions and underscores the complexities Chinese tech giants face in navigating global geopolitical issues.

“The strength of the business itself is an issue.” – Li Chengdong, Head of Haitun Technology Think Tank.

“The market is scratching its head. The first annual dividend looks like compensation to shareholders.

However, it may not fully offset the shock given the higher value of the cloud unit.” – Willer Chen, Research Analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia.