Amazon Posts Record Profits Amid Pandemic

Amazon has posted record profits. The company said it expects operating income for the current quarter to be between $4.5 billion and $8 billion, which includes about $1.5 billion in costs related to Covid-19.

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, shoppers have relied on Amazon for delivery of home staples, and the company sees this trend continuing post-pandemic, particularly for groceries.

While brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon has now posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 employees to keep up with surging demand.

Baring Asia puts Hexaware on Sale

Baring Private Equity Asia has decided to sell Hexaware Technologies, just six months after taking the mid-tier IT services firm private.

The Hong Kong-based buyout fund has initiated the process by mandating investment banks Barclays and JP Morgan to find buyers at a valuation of Rs 18,500-22,200 crore.

IBM to Acquire Software Provider Turbonomic

IBM has agreed to acquire Turbonomic, a provider of software that helps companies monitor the performance of their business applications.

The deal, IBM’s largest since its acquisition of open-source software company Red Hat for $34 Billion in 2019, values Turbonomic at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

The transaction is IBM’s 11th acquisition since Arvind Krishna became CEO last year. Turbonomic provides companies with software to boost the performance and compliance of their applications in real time.