TLDR
- The DOJ expanded its beef price investigation to Amazon and seven other major retailers including Walmart and Costco.
- Investigators are requesting six years of purchasing, pricing, and margin data from each retailer.
- Ground beef averaged $7.116 per pound in July, up 9.4% year over year and near record highs.
- The probe originally targeted meat processors, where four companies control over 85% of U.S. beef processing.
- Wall Street maintains a Strong Buy on AMZN with an average price target of $334.05, implying around 31% upside.
The Justice Department has expanded its beef price investigation to include Amazon and seven other major U.S. grocery retailers. The DOJ sent letters to the companies in July requesting six years of data on purchasing strategies, retail pricing, profit margins, and internal market analysis.
The US Justice Department expanded its antitrust inquiry of the meatpacking industry by demanding information on surging beef prices from eight major food retailers, including Amazon, Costco and Walmart https://t.co/9qU91pBI5K
— Bloomberg (@business) September 2, 2026
Amazon is one of eight retailers to receive the request. Walmart, Costco, Albertsons, Kroger, Ahold Delhaize, Publix, and Aldi were also contacted.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward signed the letters. None of the retailers have been accused of wrongdoing at this stage.
The request is part of a broader antitrust inquiry into why beef prices have stayed so high. Ground beef averaged $7.116 per pound in July, a 9.4% jump from a year earlier and close to a record high.
How the Investigation Got Here
The DOJ originally focused its beef probe on processors, not retailers. Four large meat processors currently control more than 85% of U.S. beef processing, which raised early antitrust concerns.
The department is now looking further down the supply chain to understand how prices shift before beef reaches consumers. Expanding the scope to retailers like Amazon signals the DOJ wants a fuller picture of the pricing chain.
Tight cattle supplies are adding pressure. The U.S. cattle herd recently fell to its lowest level since the 1950s, which has kept beef prices elevated even before any pricing practices come into question.
President Trump announced plans in August to allow up to 300,000 metric tons of additional beef imports at reduced tariff rates for 90 days to help boost supply. Walmart separately said in July it would lower prices on some seasonal products, including beef.
What Else Is on Amazon’s Plate
The beef inquiry is just one of several regulatory headaches for Amazon right now. The FTC and 22 states have alleged Amazon manipulated advertising auctions and overcharged around 1.2 million advertisers by more than $20 billion. Amazon has also faced planned corporate job cuts and a Teamsters strike at its Riverside warehouse.
On the institutional side, the picture looks more positive. Vanguard holds over 832 million AMZN shares worth more than $158 billion. Stanley Druckenmiller increased Duquesne’s Amazon position more than tenfold, and Coatue expanded its stake by 49%.
Amazon reported Q2 earnings of $5.75 per share, well above the $1.82 consensus estimate. Revenue came in at $200.61 billion, up 19.6% year over year.
AMZN stock opened at $254.98 on Thursday, with a 52-week range of $196.00 to $287.20 and a market cap of $2.75 trillion.
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