Amazon was the first company reported to lose $1 trillion in market capitalization during a market downturn.
Amazon reached that unfortunate milestone in November 2022, when its market value fell from a peak of about $1.88 trillion to below $878 billion. The decline reflected a broader technology-stock sell-off, rising interest rates, slowing economic growth, and investor concerns about the company’s post-pandemic outlook.
Amazon had benefited enormously from the shift toward online shopping and cloud computing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As stores reopened and financial conditions tightened, investors reassessed the growth rates and costs of its retail and logistics operations.
The figure describes a change in market value, not a cash payment or an accounting loss of exactly $1 trillion. Because market capitalization is based on the trading price of shares, a fall in the stock can erase enormous headline value without that money having existed as company cash.