TIVP022: Amazon (AMZN): Is It Prime Time for Investors? w/ Daniel Mahncke & Shawn O’Malley

The Intrinsic Value Podcast - The Investor’s Podcast Network

The Investor's Podcast Network

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 593 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O’Malley break down Amazon (ticker: AMZN), one of the most transformative companies of the modern era — a business that started as an online bookstore and ended up reshaping global commerce, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure. From innovating retail logistics to building the backbone of the internet through AWS, Amazon has changed the way the world shops and interacts with technology — and it’s not slowing down. In this episode, you’ll learn how Amazon evolved from a retail disruptor into a multi-engine platform business, how AWS and advertising became its primary profit drivers, how the company is navigating massive AI investments and expanding into satellite internet with Project Kuiper, and whether the current valuation reflects the next leg of growth — plus plenty more along the way. Prefer to watch? Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to watch this episode on YouTube. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN 00:00 - Intro 03:20 - How Bezos built Amazon and its Culture 13:32 - How Amazon’s Flywheel works 18:46 - How Amazon built one of the largest Advertising businesses in the world 27:19 - What AWS is and what role it plays for Amazon 39:09 - The Dynamics of the e-commerce business and competition 43:44 - Whether Amazon Devices can turn into a success story after all 51:01 - What position Amazon is taking in AI 58:20 - What impact Kuiper could have on Amazon’s business 1:08:46 - How Amazon performed in times of tariffs and immense capex spend 1:27:56 - Whether Amazon is attractively valued at its current levels 1:29:29 - Whether Shawn & Daniel add AMZN to The Intrinsic Value Portfolio *Disclaimer: Slight timestamp discrepancies may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign Up for The Intrinsic Value Community. The Investor’s Podcast on Amazon’s Story. Quartr’s Overview of Amazon. The Shareholder Letters of Jeff Bezos. Clayton Christensen's The Innovator’s Dilemma. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Interview at the Harvard Business Review. Check out our previous Intrinsic Value breakdowns: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nintendo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Airbnb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AutoZone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Alphabet⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ulta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠John Deere⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Madison Square Garden Sports⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Check out the books mentioned in the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. NEW TO THE SHOW? Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Try Shawn's favorite tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TIP Finance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: • CFI Education • Airbnb Connect with Shawn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Daniel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠rating and review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! It takes less than 30 seconds and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Transcript

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0:00.0	Nothing is more convenient than ordering today and having it deliver to more, as you and I know best, or at least in the next 48 hours.
0:08.1	And that's basically the Amazon Prime promise.
0:11.2	Amazon has invested tens of billions of dollars into its logistics infrastructure to deliver on that promise.
0:18.2	And by now, some 20 years later, Amazon Prime is so much more than just fast and free delivery.
0:25.1	It's this vast ecosystem speaking to every customer out there.
0:29.6	I mean, if you want to listen to music, it's Amazon Prime.
0:32.6	Movies and shows, Amazon Prime.
0:34.8	Thursday Night Football for you, Amazon Prime.
0:37.4	Champions League for me, Amazon Prime. More than 230 million members are subscribed to the service.
0:44.2	And last year, Crime Alone generated about $40 billion in revenues.
0:54.0	Welcome back, folks, to our intrinsic value podcast, where we go through the business breakdowns of different companies every week, estimate their intrinsic value, and then decide whether to add them to our portfolio of stock holdings.
1:08.2	And before we get started, let me just take a moment to make a quick special
1:12.5	announcement. Daniel and I are really excited to announce that we are launching a new community for
1:18.7	investors in our audience to join. This will be an exclusive community where basically we vet every
1:24.8	member and cap the total size of the community
1:27.7	to ensure that it stays meaningful and intimately sized such that everybody can know each other.
1:33.8	And for a limited time, we are opening up just 30 spots to the public.
1:38.7	And I would say if you're just even remotely interested,
1:41.8	you should go ahead and join the waitlist at theinvestorspodcast.com
1:46.0	slash intrinsic value community. For applicants, if you're admitted, you'll have the chance to network
1:52.5	with other like-minded investors, share stock ideas and get feedback on pitches, dial into calls
1:58.2	with expert guest speakers, get the latest updates on Daniel and I's portfolio
	...

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