Amazon (AMZN) late Thursday reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results, though the e-commerce giant’s revenue outlook for the first quarter fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.
Per-share earnings jumped to $1.86 for the three months through Dec. 31 from $1 a year earlier, topping the FactSet-polled GAAP consensus of $1.49. Sales increased 10% year-over-year to $187.79 billion, higher than the Street’s $187.31 billion view.
Amazon expects first-quarter revenue of $151 billion to $155.5 billion, reflecting annual growth between 5% and 9%. Analysts were looking for $158.56 billion.
The guidance reflects “an unusually large, unfavorable impact” of about $2.1 billion tied to foreign exchange rates, the company said. In addition, the 2024 first quarter benefited from the leap year impact, which added roughly $1.5 billion in sales.
Shares were down 2.2% in after-hours trading.
For the final quarter of 2024, sales at the Amazon Web Services cloud computing division rose 19% annually to $28.79 billion, while advertising services revenue advanced 18% to $17.29 billion.
North American sales climbed 10% to $115.59 billion, while international operations gained 8% to $43.42 billion.