Amazon (AMZN, Financial) declined in price during the year as it became apparent that, having doubled the footprint of thecompany's retail infrastructure coming out of Covid, the company had expanded too aggressively. The investment community is similarly concerned that the company's cloud business, AWS, is likely to be negatively impacted by general economic malaise, which would result in a growth rate lower than that of the recent past. Taking a long-term view, we envision both AWS and retail growing over the coming years, complemented by a high margin advertising business. Looking forward, we expect the company to benefit from positive operating leverage under the keen eye of CEO Andy Jassy, who has proven himself as a results-oriented leader in his former position as head of AWS. Though the valuation looks rather rich at the moment on near-term results, if we are correct in our thesis, the valuation at present prices will look to have been a bargain in hindsight.
From Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio)'s FPA Crescent Fund fourth-quarter 2022 commentary.
