Amazon market worth soars $170B as Meta retains sinking in aftermath of pivotal earnings reviews

Amazon stock is up more than 12% in trading Friday morning after its fourth-quarter earnings report, adding more than $170 billion in market value to bring its total valuation to $1.58 trillion.

The extraordinary increase is like adding the equivalent of an entire AT&T (market value $171 billion) or nearly two-and-a-half Fords (market value $70 billion) in a matter of hours.

However, the Seattle tech giant’s total market value is still well below its peak of almost $1.9 trillion in November, reflecting an overall decline in Amazon’s share price over the past few months.

In its results Thursday afternoon, Amazon posted profits of $14.3 billion, nearly doubling year-over year despite heavy spending to overcome labor shortages and supply chain constraints. Amazon was lifted by its cloud division and a gain of $11.8 billion in the value of its stake in electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive.

The company also announced a $20 increase in its annual Prime membership fee, to $139 from $119 previously.

Meanwhile, shares of Facebook parent company Meta dropped another 2% in trading Friday morning, continuing a historic plunge that began with its earnings report on Wednesday.

Meta’s shares had declined more than 26% on Thursday, reducing its market value by more than $230 billion, after its total user base declined for the first time. Meta warned about the impact of Apple’s new privacy features and TikTok’s growth.

Meta, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has more than 7,000 employees in the Seattle region, and is expanding steadily on both sides of Lake Washington.

Update: Amazon shares closed the day up more than 13%, giving the company a market value of $1.6 trillion.

[Number of Meta employees in Seattle region corrected since original post.]