Jeff Bezos plans to sell as many as 50 million shares of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock over the next year, according to a regulatory filing released Friday. Given Amazon’s current share price, should the former Amazon Chief Executive go forward with the sale, this would net Bezos about $8.6 billion.
Bezos’ proposed stock sale was recently released as part of Amazon’s annual report. Indeed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires disclosure for internal stock sales of this nature.
Bezos, the founder of the e-commerce giant, stepped down as CEO back in 2021, though he still chairs Amazon’s board of directors.
With Amazon currently trending around $168 per share, inching close to its $176 peak from 2021, Bezos has chosen a strong time to offload some of his holdings.
Indeed, after a shaky start to the year, it seems the bulls are back on parade. Amazon initiated several aggressive cost-cutting measures in 2023, including several rounds of layoffs. However, these cost cuts appear to have paid off in the company’s bottom line.
AMZN Stock Climbs on Strong Q4 Earnings
The news came just one day following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, during which the company announced strong revenue growth in the holiday season. Amazon posted quarterly profits of $10.6 billion in the final quarter of the year.
Q4 was “a record-breaking Holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon,” according to Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy.
Investors were clearly encouraged by the news, pushing AMZN stock up 8% on Friday.
“The bottom line is that despite all the concerns plaguing the tech sector, Amazon has managed to perform surprisingly well,” noted Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. “The results indicate that ongoing cost-cutting measures are having a positive impact on Amazon’s business prospects.”
On the date of publication, Shrey Dua did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
