Ostersund, Sweden -August 9, 2015: Amazon website displayed on a computer screen. Amazon is an american international electronic commerce company and the world's largest online retailer.
Amazon is up by 13 percent in the first 12 days of 2023. The aggressive bullish trend follows a long-term bearish trend which saw the company drop by 50 percent in 2022.
However, despite the strong start, Amazon continues to suffer in other sectors. According to the latest reports, Amazon’s efforts to prevent unionization at its JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island were dealt a significant blow on Wednesday, as a federal labor agency certified an independent union’s landmark victory and threw out a litany of objections filed by the e-retail giant.
In April 2022, a majority of the roughly 8,300 workers at the facility voted to join the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), making it the company’s first unionized facility in the U.S. However, Amazon sought to overturn the results of the election, alleging interference by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the union drive and claiming that the ALU intimidated workers into voting in their favor.
On Wednesday, Cornele Overstreet, a director of the NLRB’s Phoenix-based office, said he agreed with a federal labor official’s prior ruling that all of Amazon’s objections should be dismissed. Under U.S. labor law, employers are obligated to begin negotiating in good faith with a union after it wins an election and the results are certified.
Amazon has stated that it intends to appeal the NLRB’s ruling and take the case to the board in Washington. The company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, has previously stated that there were “a lot of irregularities” in the union drive and that the legal process is “far from over.”
Amazon’s options are also narrowing following the significant win by the Unions. According to Rutgers University labor expert Rebecca Givan, if they lose their appeal, they will not be able to appeal again. Their only other option will be to refuse to bargain on the grounds that it believes the election was tainted.
Although the court ruling is a win for Amazon’s workers, the decision is likely to impact its share price throughout the year and possibly in the coming years. The possibility of raising their worker’s wages will also see their bottom line impacted, and shareholders are worried it might affect their dividends.
Therefore, following the ruling, we are likely to see other Amazon warehouses and workers also following in the footsteps of its JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island. These events will likely be the main focal point of 2023 and will result in the current strong bullish trend reversing, and we might start to see Amazon stock price dropping.
Overall, I am still bearish despite the past two weeks showing signs of an aggressive bullish trend that has resulted in a 13 percent gain year-to-date. A possible drop below the $90 price level is a highly likely outcome in the next few trading sessions.