Amazon Sales and Profit Top Estimates

Amazon’s sales and earnings in the busy holiday quarter beat analysts’ estimates, according to Bloomberg.

Advertising was a key moneymaker, highlighting Amazon’s ability to charge brands and merchants for visibility to its 100 million-plus loyal Prime subscribers. Overall revenue rose 20 percent, and the company’s "other" revenue category, which is mostly advertising, grew 95 percent to $3.39 billion in the quarter.

Revenue was $72.4 billion in the fourth quarter, Amazon said in a statement. Analysts projected $71.9 billion. Net income was $6.04 per share, compared with an average estimate of $5.56. Sales at Amazon Web Services, the top seller of cloud-computing services, climbed 45 percent to $7.43 billion. Operating expenses grew 18 percent in the recent quarter.

Sales will be $56 billion to $60 billion in the current period, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $61 billion. First-quarter operating income will be $2.3 billion to $3.3 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates of $2.99 billion. Shoppers will spend $484 billion globally on Amazon this year, up 26 percent from 2018, and the company will capture more than half of all online spending in the U.S., according to eMarketer.

Losses from international operations widened to $642 million, reversing a trend of narrower losses internationally. The potentially weak revenue outlook highlighted concerns about how Amazon will do in India, its biggest international expansion target, where rules on foreign-owned e-commerce companies are changing.