The world’s largest e-commerce retailer, Amazon.com (AMZN), reports earnings Thursday. It will be a critical read on the state of the U.S. consumer.
Our read? “Amazon’s got the best data of any company in the world about the state of the consumer and corporate profits, and it’s laying off 27,000 people,” explains Retail analyst Brian McGough in this clip from The Call @ Hedgeye. “What the hell does that tell you?”
Data from alternative data providers suggest revenue will beat analyst expectations. But that’s not the buying signal many will perceive it as.
“It’ll be a great rah, rah headline ‘Amazon beats…’ but the fact of the matter is it’s off a sandbagged, beaten-down guide,” McGough says. “Growth on an absolute basis is slowing, there’s no other way to cut it.”
Keith McCullough adds: “There’s not one U.S. economic data point that would suggest you should buy U.S. consumption growth accelerating in the past six weeks. The retail sales number itself just went down 465 basis points from January to March. You either know that or you don’t. If you don’t know anything and you’re just flailing around, go for the YipitData.”
Watch the full clip above.
