Amazon Stock Falls on Soft Sales Outlook
02:46 Share

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Amazon shares are slipping in off-hours trading after the company's sales and operating income projections fell short of Wall Street's expectations yesterday. The tech giant also indicated that it's doubling down on AI investments and guided for a record amount of more than $100 billion in capital expenditures for the year.

Mirroring moves by peers Google, Microsoft, and Meta, which together have forecast combined CapEx of at least $215 billion for their current fiscal years, up more than 45% on the year.

Meanwhile, the rise of DeepSeek is moving markets in Asia, where robust gains by large Chinese tech stocks have pushed Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index into bull territory. The index, which is like the Nasdaq for Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, has risen more than 20 percent from a January low, with PC maker Lenovo and smartphone specialist Xiaomi among the top winners.

And U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department is shifting resources toward investigations targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations and away from efforts to fight traditional corporate corruption, announcing yesterday the dissolution of a task force meant to enforce sanctions on Russian kleptocrats.

That marks a shift in how the DOJ enforces the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was passed to prohibit large companies from using their heft to corrupt foreign governments. Asian stocks have end-of-the-day mixed. European stocks are mostly lower in midday trading. And U.S. stock futures are little changed ahead of January's jobs report, due out at 8.30 a.m. Eastern.

And we've got a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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