Amazon became the first company to lose $1 trillion in market value during a prolonged share-price decline in 2022.
The milestone was reported in November 2022, when Amazon’s market capitalization fell from roughly $1.88 trillion at its peak to below $878 billion. The decline reflected a combination of factors, including higher interest rates, weaker technology valuations, slowing growth expectations, and concerns about the cost of expanding Amazon’s businesses. Because market capitalization depends on both share price and the number of shares outstanding, a major fall in the stock price can erase enormous paper value.
This was not a $1 trillion cash payment or an operating loss of exactly $1 trillion. It described the change in the company’s stock-market value from its peak. Amazon continued operating its online retail, cloud-computing, advertising, and streaming businesses after the valuation milestone.