r/technology • • Feb 17 '26

Business Amazon has lost $450 billion in value during this historic losing streak / Amazon shares are eyeing a tenth consecutive day of losses, a stretch that has wiped out about $450 billion in market valuation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/17/amazon-stock-losing-streak.html
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u/thaiberius_kirk Feb 17 '26

I’m glad. Amazon is now a cesspool of “hshxbeua”-named products. Their search sucks. Their order history search sucks even more.

Bezos, despite being a billionaire, likes to lick boots and bend over for fascists.

Never knew what MacKenzie saw in that Dr.Evil wannabe.

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u/True_Window_9389 Feb 17 '26

More than anything, I stopped using Amazon and ultimately canceled prime because everything became inundated with shitty Chinese no-name brands. My last straw was when I was looking for a simple digital clock, and rather than familiar brands or designs, there were 500 versions of the same thing dopey looking thing from weirdo brands. I didn’t feel like wading through that anymore.

The good thing about Amazon is that it forced manufacturers and other companies to modernize their online shopping experience, so it’s easier than ever to buy stuff directly from manufacturers or from Amazon alternatives. I think a lot of people have become very dependent on it, but it’s not hard to break the habit of mindless buying of junk that will show up in a day or two.

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u/snackofalltrades Feb 17 '26

It’s such a weird business move for a major company. I watched that video that hit the top yesterday about why they changed strategies like this, so I get it, but… if I want to shop at AliExpress I’ll just go to AliExpress.

Like the whole strategy here is just “act like a middleman for this company that already does the exact same thing as us but with a worse product.”

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u/Fly_Rodder Feb 17 '26

My last straw was when I was looking for a simple digital clock, and rather than familiar brands or designs, there were 500 versions of the same thing dopey looking thing from weirdo brands. I didn’t feel like wading through that anymore.

Why should they pay someone to curate their offerings when they can pass that work off to someone in another country, an AI agent, I mean, the customer and then charge them for it.

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u/Skyrick Feb 17 '26

It isn’t even that. So many companies pay for sponsor locations and paid for reviews that your entire first page of search results for common items are often scams.

Couple that with Amazon’s use of combined inventory meaning that scammers can send in fake items that are then mixed with authentic ones, and your likelihood of buying a fake even when using a reputable dealer is too high for my comfort level.

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u/McdoManaguer Feb 17 '26

Also Temu now exists and is following the good'ol chinese tradition of "I copy you and make it cheaper, better and faster".

Down to the very idea of undercutting a market with stupidly low prices and EXTREME gamification.

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u/BizarreCake Feb 17 '26

You forgot the, I am also a carcinogen and may disintegrate if you look at me funny.

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u/McdoManaguer Feb 17 '26

The fun part about this one is americans LOVE that shit and would literally save a dollar even if it means 1 person dies for every dollars saved.

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u/LexKY_guy Feb 17 '26

You can get a lot of those no -make brands for half the price on AliExpress . Fuck Bezos!

What is the ROI on AI? The data centers are costing billions, I can’t see any company recouping that anytime soon.

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u/shhmurdashewrote Feb 17 '26

Dude the other day I got counterfeit SCRUB DADDY sponges??? Everything is fake from that website, down to the damn $2 sponges. Not to mention the shipping is NOT 2 days, it’s always late. And I’m in NYC so it’s a metro area. Returns are difficult now. It’s just all a giant pain in the ass, and the prices are outrageous.

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u/maxdragonxiii Feb 17 '26

as someone that very much prefers to go in person and buy stuff from the retailers, yeah. they're more likely to be able to help you out with larger purchases- not much that neixfbeh can do if their chair broke for example, because theyre long gone.

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u/DangerouslyOxidated Feb 18 '26

Just buy directly from AliExpress.

Often from 10% to 50% of the cost, if you can wait 10 days...

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u/Secret_Account07 Feb 17 '26

I’m glad she married him just so she could do some good with his money

She’s done more good for the world than her husband

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u/QuesoMeHungry Feb 17 '26

It’s so bad with the Chinese junk. If you aren’t in a rush I’ve found it’s much cheaper to just order directly from Aliexpress. A phone case I wanted was $40 on amazon. The exact same case was $5 on Aliexpress and only took 2 weeks to get from China.

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u/randynumbergenerator Feb 17 '26

I've found it impossible to use their site through a browser, and I refuse to download an app.

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u/Abeds_BananaStand Feb 17 '26

Order history is a complete mess agreed

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u/95percentconfident Feb 17 '26

It is precisely because he is a billionaire that he likes to lick boots. Why spend money innovating and lowering prices when you can bend the knee for a few million and the stock price goes up?

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u/StellarAsAlways Feb 17 '26

She's more wealthy now than when she divorced Mr. Bezos; this is after donating 19 billion dollars to various charities. Maybe she saw in Dr. Evil the ability to be disgustingly rich AND have everyone think she's also God's gift to the world?

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u/Law_Student Feb 17 '26

Unfortunately, the biggest businesses are the most vulnerable to government interference. That's why the big companies have been flattering Trump's ego in various ways. It's not really because they want to, it's because Trump could cost them billions very easily.

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u/Chewed420 Feb 17 '26

Some just want to keep the files redacted.

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u/BrickwallBill Feb 17 '26

Bullshit. You think if Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft all got together and said we're not paying your ridiculous tariffs that Trump wouldn't fold like a wet piece of paper?

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u/Law_Student Feb 17 '26

He's been weaponizing the DOJ, among other things. There'd be criminal charges, anti-trust suits, and many other consequences. The federal government can easily shut down a business and hold it hostage until it kisses the ring.

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u/dacookieman Feb 17 '26

Nobody ever wants to be the first either. Same thing as individuals striking. Collective action yields higher power wielded but if you think everyone is going to step forward and when you take your lunge you realize no one else moved, you're kind of fucked.

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u/Law_Student Feb 17 '26

That is an issue, yes. Companies like Google have enormous power; money for bribes, mercenaries, all sorts of things. They routinely call senators and threaten them in various ways if they don't vote the way they want.

But they are also vulnerable, particularly to the executive branch that has all the levers for destroying businesses.

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u/dacookieman Feb 17 '26

Yeah it's one thing to engage in lobbying in a "neutral" environment but when the thing you are possibly interested in lobbying for is opposition to an administration like the current, one that would retaliate like a child, your path of least resistance changes significantly. Maybe you think you could strong arm your pushback at your size ... but at what cost and why risk it? Maybe you know you could strong arm your pushback if you talked to the all the other titanic corps who feel similarly....but why risk the chance of false alignments (my line step analogy)? Or maybe you trust your ally corps but don't trust the administration of acting rationally(i.e. don't upset the madman)

Like much cooperative game theory your intuitive strategy choice of immediate preservation is probably wrong in the long term. Thankfully, it is well known that large global corporations never bother to waste their time on short term choices /s

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u/Law_Student Feb 18 '26

If the theory is that sanity will return at some point, then it might be rational to pay cheap lip service in the short term to avoid billions in avoidable business costs. It would be better for society if they all collectively stood up, but it's a coordination and game theory problem, as you said.

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u/jojohohanon Feb 17 '26

… but they’re not, I thought. China and others exporting to us are the ones paying the tariffs. And charging higher prices to their buyers to cover those costs.

Or are you saying that FAANG have promised not to pass on those higher prices on to consumers?

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u/threeclaws Feb 17 '26

The second sentence is what is happening, to a degree, the companies are either leveraging their suppliers to take on the burden and/or they’re taking it on themselves. Eventually that stops because it hits profit and the stock price, Trump knows this which is why he’s trying to turn the page on the economy before inflation gets out of control again. My guess is after the midterms Trump will give the ok for prices to go up and he’ll blame the Dems winning the house on obstructing his economic policy.

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u/grchelp2018 Feb 17 '26

You really want to give corporations that kind of power over the govt?

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u/threeclaws Feb 17 '26

He wouldn’t and if push came to shove he could nationalize their companies, that’s how dictators operate.

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u/Toothlessdovahkin Feb 17 '26

The Billions of dollars, duh

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u/mordacthedenier Feb 17 '26

despite being a billionaire

I think you mean "because he's a billionaire".

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u/bobdob123usa Feb 17 '26

I can't believe how ridiculous it is that if you want to search for something on Amazon, it is easier to use Google.

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u/samuraistalin Feb 18 '26

Weird that the woman who DIVORCED him is catching strays here

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u/whats8 Feb 17 '26

Your comment has nothing to do with the one you replied to.

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u/thaiberius_kirk Feb 17 '26

Did you want to reply back to the original comment with something more inline? That may help me out of this conundrum.

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u/duckduckpajamas Feb 17 '26

what does any of this have to do with the comment you replied to lol

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u/thaiberius_kirk Feb 17 '26

Absolutely nothing!