Amazon’s shares jumped about 8 per cent in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported a significant surge in its fourth-quarter net profit and gave a strong guidance for the current quarter
Its net profit increased to $10.6 billion in the fourth quarter, or $1 a share, compared with $300 million, or $0.03 a share, in the prior year period.
The Seattle-based company’s revenue during the October-December period increased 14 per cent on an annual basis to $170 billion, topping analysts' average estimate of $166.2 billion.
This was the 13th consecutive quarter with more than $100 billion in sales.
“The fourth quarter was a record-breaking holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive.
“While we made meaningful revenue, operating income and free cash flow progress, what we are most pleased with is the continued invention and customer experience improvements across our businesses.”
In its first-quarter sales guidance, Amazon expects revenue to hover between $138 billion and $143.5 billion, jumping 8 per cent to 13 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.
Operating income is expected to be between $8 billion and $12 billion, compared with $4.8 billion in the first quarter of last year.
Amazon’s operating income increased to $13.2 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $2.7 billion during the same period in 2022.
The company's stock, which is up more than 6 per cent since the start of this year, was nearly 6.2 per cent up at $159.2 at the close of trading on Thursday. It surged to $171 a share in after-hours trading.
In 2022, Amazon’s share price dropped more than 50 per cent. It was the biggest decline since 2000, when it tumbled almost 80 per cent.
For the full 2023 fiscal, the e-commerce company's net income stood at $30.4 billion compared with a net loss of $2.7 billion in 2022, while its revenue increased 12 per cent annually to $574.8 billion last year.
North America segment sales increased 12 per cent year on year to $352.8 billion and international sales jumped 11 per cent to $131.2 billion in 2023 full fiscal.
Amazon Web Services, the company’s subsidiary that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to other businesses, also had good momentum in sales.
AWS revenue reached $90.8 billion in the January-December period, rising annually by more than 13 per cent.
“Amazon blew past both revenue and earnings per share expectations this quarter, thanks to a strong performance in its key AWS cloud business as well as several cost-saving measures implemented during recent months,” Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, told The National.
“The bottom line is that despite all the concerns plaguing the tech sector, Amazon has managed to perform surprisingly well.
“The results indicate that ongoing cost-cutting measures are having a positive impact on Amazon's business prospects.”
On Thursday, Amazon also revealed a new shopping-oriented artificial intelligence assistant named Rufus. This tool is specifically crafted to assist users in both searching for and purchasing products.
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