The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Amazon forecast current-quarter sales below estimates, and shares fell after hours even though second-quarter profit and cloud-computing sales beat Wall Street estimates. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said in a call with reporters that consumers were being more cautious with their spending. "They are looking for deals," he said, noting that lower priced products were selling briskly. Chief executive officer Andy Jassy agreed, adding that customers were trading down on price when they could. Amazon's on-line retail business has faced heightened competition from budget retailers like AliExpress, Temu and Shein, which sell a wide variety of goods at bargain-basement prices direct from China. Amazon's focus on successes in its AWS cloud computing did not cheer investors, who sent shares of the Seattle-based company down 5 per cent in extended trading. Amazon shares had gained 23 per cent this year through the regular close on Thursday. Amazon's cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reported a 19-per-cent increase in revenue to $26.3-billion for the second quarter, surpassing market estimates.