Amazon’s changing business model

Amazon’s business has expanded significantly since its market debut. At the time, it reported $15.7 million in annual sales and Dow Jones Newswires described the company as “an upstart that made a flashy business out of selling books over the Internet.” In 2020, the company made $386 billion in sales while operating its own multi-national parcel-delivery fleet, offering services to control satellites, and running a streaming entertainment platform.

Monster Beverage’s outsized profits

Hansen’s $1.3 million of profit on $43 million sales in 1997 came primarily from carbonated fruit-juice drinks made without additives like caffeine or artificial coloring. The intervening years have led it to sell off non-energy drink divisions to Coca-Cola, change its name to Monster, and grow profit to a cumulative $1.2 billion on $4.4 billion in sales in its four most recently reported quarters.

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