Trump-Bizos' phone sets the stage of Amazon's tense income reporting

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc.; from left, Lauren Sanchez; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Inc.; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc.; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., was at the 60th presidential inauguration ceremony held on January 20, 2025 in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Washington, DC.

Julia DeMaree Nikhinson Bloomberg | Getty Images

President Donald Trump once called Jeff Bezos "Jeff Bozo". Now, after the drama between the two, Trump calls the Amazon founder a "good guy."

Amazon's earnings report is scheduled to be held on Thursday, and has put investors on the edge due to the president's extensive tariffs and their potential impact on the tech giant's numerous businesses. Amazon is expected to report its slowest revenue growth in any period since 2022 as the share price fell 17% this year, which does not reflect the taxes announced in early April.

Tensions intensified early this week.

The White House reportedly criticized Amazon on Tuesday for planning to showcase new tariffs from the U.S.’s top trading partner on its website, which is driving consumer prices. After the story was published by Punchbowl News, Trump called Bezos to complain.

Amazon responded quickly and said no such change was coming.

"This has never been approved and will not happen," Amazon wrote in a blog post of 31 words in total.

President Trump often threw insults at Bezos during his firm White House tenure, mainly due to Amazon’s founder’s ownership of the Washington Post. Bezos recently went out of his way to try to patch the relationship, heading to Washington DC’s inauguration in January.

The president said he was happy with their latest call.

"Jeff Bezos is very good," Trump told reporters late Tuesday. "He's great. He solved the problem quickly and he did the right thing. He's a good guy."

Amazon clarified that it only considers displaying import fees on products for sale on its discount storefront Amazon Haul, which competes with super cheap Chinese retailer Temu. Shipping products are priced at USD 20 or less, many of which are sold directly from China using the De Minimis trade exemption. The loophole will disappear next month after Trump signs the executive order, making shipping these products to the United States more expensive

Temu, Shein

The conflict with Trump stressed that Amazon's pressure has brought Trump's aggressive tariffs on Chinese imports to the most direct impact, totaling 145%. The company faces a significant amount of risks primarily through its retail division. Amazon has purchased some products from China, and many sellers in its third-party marketplace rely on the world's second-largest economy to manufacture or assemble their products.

The topic of tariffs will hover in Amazon's first-quarter earnings report. Investors will wonder how higher import costs will affect their profit margins and whether the uncertainty surrounding tariffs have led shoppers to be more cautious about their spending.

According to LSEG, the quarter is expected to earn $1.37 per share and revenue of $155.04 billion, which will account for an annual growth rate of more than 8% above the annual growth rate, which will be the slowest growth rate since the second quarter of 2022.

"Hard choice"

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC earlier this month that the company did not see a drop in consumer demand. Jassy said Amazon is "trying and doing everything to do" to reduce prices for shoppers, including conditions for renegotiation with some suppliers. But he acknowledged that some third-party sellers would “need to give tariff fees” to consumers.

UBS analysts said in a report to clients on Tuesday that at least 50% of items sold by Amazon are subject to Trump’s tariffs, so it could become more expensive.

"So, consumers may have to distribute their money wherever they are," the analyst wrote.

Amazon reportedly imposed an impact on some suppliers that forced it to lower prices to lower Trump tariffs, the Financial Times reported.

Some sellers have raised prices and reduced advertising spending as they compete against import costs. Others are hoping to get new suppliers in countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India, with tariffs rising under Trump, but that's moderate compared to China's tax on goods.

Mahaney: Amazon will

Temu and rival discount app Shein implemented price increases on many projects last week. Since then, Temu has added "import fees" between 130% and 150% on some products.

Wall Street may focus on Amazon’s comments on the status of its business. The third quarter will include results from Amazon’s Golden Day shopping event, which is usually held in July within two days. Amazon sellers have previously told CNBC that they may hold fewer transactions on this year's Golden Day to save inventory or because they can no longer post products.

Bank of America analysts said in a note to clients this week that it saw Amazon’s potential to provide “a broader range of guidance” in its earnings report on Thursday in its third-quarter earnings report.

Oppenheimer analysts said investors' impact on tariffs on Amazon's e-commerce business is "highly uncertain." The company has an outperforming rating on Amazon's stock.

"We assume that the third quarter is the most affected quarter, as sellers should still have pre-engagement inventory by May, so there is no need to raise prices," analysts wrote.

Amazon did not comment outside Tuesday’s brief statement.

watch: Trump talks with Bezos

Trump said he spoke with Jeff Bezos and quickly resolved Amazon's