Amazon.com Inc.

Amazon IPO

Amazon’s initial public offering (IPO) took place on May 15, 1997. The company was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “AMZN.”

At the time of the IPO, Amazon priced its shares at $18 per share. However, the company had a 3-for-1 stock split in 1999 and another 2-for-1 stock split in 1998. So, if you adjust for these stock splits, the IPO price was effectively $1.50 per share.

At the time of its IPO, Amazon was primarily known as an online book retailer. However, the company quickly expanded into selling a wide variety of goods and services, eventually becoming one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies.

Amazon’s growth since its IPO has been tremendous, and the company is now also known for its cloud computing services (Amazon Web Services), digital streaming, artificial intelligence, and more.

Investors who bought Amazon at its IPO price and held on to their shares have seen a significant return on their investment, as Amazon’s share price has increased substantially since 1997.

Company Overview & History

Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon.com, Inc. started as an online marketplace for books in Bezos’s garage in Bellevue, Washington. The company quickly diversified into a wide variety of products, including electronics, software, apparel, and more.

In 1997, Amazon went public on the NASDAQ at $18 per share, raising $54 million. Over the next few years, Amazon continued to expand its product and service offerings, which included the introduction of Amazon Prime in 2005 and the launch of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006.

Despite facing challenges, such as the dot-com crash in 2000, Amazon survived and continued to grow, becoming the largest online retailer and a major player in cloud computing.

Financial Performance

Year	Revenue($B)	Net Income($B)	EBITDA($B)	Operational Cash Flow($B)
2020	386.1	21.3	48.9	66.1
2019	280.5	11.6	37.2	38.5
2018	232.9	10.1	30.7	30.7
2017	177.9	3.0	24.3	18.4
2016	135.9	2.3	16.1	16.4
2015	107.0	0.6	11.9	11.9
2014	88.9	-0.2	4.9	6.8
2013	74.4	0.2	4.9	5.4
2012	61.1	-0.0	4.5	4.1
2011	48.1	0.6	3.7	3.9
2010	34.2	1.1	3.3	3.5
2009	24.5	0.9	2.9	3.3
2008	19.2	0.6	1.9	1.7
2007	14.8	0.4	1.4	1.4
2006	10.7	0.2	1.0	1.0
2005	8.5	0.4	0.8	0.7
2004	6.9	0.6	0.9	0.6
2003	5.3	0.4	0.7	0.4
2002	3.9	-0.1	0.3	0.1
2001	3.1	-0.6	-0.2	0.0
2000	2.7	-1.4	-0.9	-0.6
1999	1.6	-0.7	-0.6	-0.4
1998	0.6	-0.1	-0.1	-0.0
1997	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0

Business Model

Amazon’s business model is a composite of many different parts: it’s an online retail marketplace, a content creator, a digital advertising platform, a hardware developer, and a provider of cloud services via AWS, among others.

Each business segment contributes to Amazon’s revenues, with AWS and the online marketplace being the largest contributors. AWS, while contributing less to total revenue than the marketplace, often generates a larger portion of the company’s operating income due to its higher margins.

Market Cap Over the Years

Year	Market Cap($B)
2020	1,580
2019	920
2018	730
2017	566
2016	355
2015	316
2014	144
2013	182
2012	118
2011	80
2010	81
2009	59
2008	26
2007	37
2006	17
2005	19
2004	18
2003	21
2002	7
2001	6
2000	20
1999	30
1998	2
1997	0.4

Risk Factors

Key risk factors for Amazon include regulatory challenges, particularly related to antitrust issues, and increasing competition in both the e-commerce and cloud computing sectors. Other risks include data breaches, disruptions in its supply chain, and potential negative impacts from macroeconomic conditions.

Market Opportunity

At the time of its IPO, Amazon’s total addressable market (TAM) was primarily the retail book market. Today, its TAM encompasses e-commerce, cloud services, digital advertising, streaming media, and more.

Competitors

• Alibaba
• Walmart
• eBay
• Google (Cloud Services)
• Microsoft (Cloud Services)

Key/Fun Company Facts

• Amazon’s initial public offering (IPO) was on May 15, 1997, at a price of $18 per share.
• The name Amazon was chosen by Jeff Bezos because it was “exotic and different”, and it’s the largest river in the world by volume, which represented his ambition for the company’s size.
• In 2021, Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO and was succeeded by Andy Jassy, the former CEO of AWS.