We’re right in the middle of earnings season, and while reports have been reasonably strong so far, stocks continue to fall this month.

Even with 80% of companies reporting earnings beats, investors have a lot to worry about between geopolitical conflict, inflation, potential recession, and more.

One company that is feeling the heat right now is Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). After reporting a less-than-favorable quarter.

Amazon's stock fell about 13% after the company reported on Thursday, citing slowing growth and higher costs in its latest quarter and offering a disappointing revenue outlook.

In its earnings call, Amazon's CFO, Brian Olsavsky, said higher inflation, fuel prices, and labor constraints added $2 billion to costs compared to last year.

Read below for more on that and everything I have my eye on this week…

1. Amazon Takes a Dive

Amazon is feeling the pressure right now following its disappointing earnings report last Thursday.

After its call Thursday afternoon, Amazon’s stock fell about 13% the following day and continues to sink this week.

Between inflation and wavering investor confidence, it makes sense that we’d see a dip in online retail shopping.

Amazon is also spending resources attempting to put a stop to unionization efforts across its warehouses.

2. Amazon Busts Union Effort

While we’re on the topic of Amazon, the grassroots labor union that made history last month by forming the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States has lost a union election at a smaller facility just across the street.

The election was held last week at the Staten Island sorting facility known as LDJ5 and the votes were counted today.

Amazon is known for its union-busting efforts, but the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) movement is gaining steam.

It’s not at all unlikely that we’ll see more unionization efforts start to sprout at Amazon warehouses across the country.

3. Apple Keeps it in House

With its A-series and M-series processors, Apple has shown it can design the brains of its devices.

Now, the tech giant is poised to do something potentially even harder: create the chips that enable them to communicate with the internet.

Apple has always relied on Qualcomm to supply it with the chips necessary for cellular connection. But now, Apple is looking to develop its own chips.

Continued ARM chip development for Apple would mean more efficiency, power, and compatibility across its devices.

4. Waste Not Want Not

Efforts are underway to scale carbon capture and carbon removal technology, but even after we gain the ability to capture sizable amounts of carbon dioxide, we still need to figure out what to do with it.

One option is permanent storage solutions, such as sequestering CO2 underground.

Another route is upcycling captured CO2 to use in products that rely on fossil fuels.

Chicago-based LanzaTech, founded in 2005, is one of the companies working on applications that use recycled carbon.

5. Revisiting an Old Design

Last week, during its Q1 earnings call, Tesla announced a stat most battery experts wouldn’t have predicted a few years ago.

In the first three months of 2022, about half of its vehicles produced globally were built with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

LFP batteries use a specific lithium-ion battery chemistry that tends to be safer and less expensive, despite being less energy-dense than the EV battery chemistries most automakers use today.

And we might see more widespread use soon, LFP batteries have been gaining traction at a surprising pace.

To a bright future,

Ray Blanco
Chief Technology Expert, Technology Profits Daily
AskRay@StPaulResearch.com