Recently, Amazon posted a stellar fiscal year end with revenue growth of 14%, surpassing Wall Street's**, reflecting the strong performance of its cloud computing and e-commerce divisions, and further driven by innovative biointelligence capabilities. As the tech giant was optimistic about the outlook for the upcoming quarter, the company's shares surged 8% in after-hours trading.
Specifically, Amazon reported earnings per share of 1$00, beating expectations by 80 cents, and total revenue reached $170 billion, beating expectations of $166.2 billion. Among them, Amazon's web services and advertising business revenue was the most prominent, reaching $24.2 billion and $14.7 billion, respectively, both exceeding analysts' expectations.
Looking ahead, Amazon expects first-quarter sales to be between $138 billion and $143.5 billion, up 8% to 13%. This was much higher than analysts' expectations, which put revenue at $142.1 billion.
Net profit rose sharply to $10.6 billion, up from $2.6 billion last year$7.8 billion in stark contrast.
The success of the fourth quarter was attributed to record holiday sales and the performance of Amazon's October Prime Day event.
Solid growth in web services (13% year-over-year) and 27% year-over-year growth in advertising were key drivers of success in the quarter. Web services, in particular, have seen a surge of interest in their generative AI products, such as AI chatbots for businesses.
"Generative AI services are still a relatively small business, but the company believes they could bring in tens of billions of dollars in revenue over the next few years," its division executives noted. ”
Despite stiff competition from competitors such as Microsoft, Amazon's cloud business remains a leading provider, thanks in part to its aggressive investments in generative AI and large language models. The company expects capital expenditures to increase to support the growth of network services, indicating a bullish outlook for cloud services.
In addition to technological advancements, Amazon's operational efficiencies, such as optimizing its fulfillment network, have also contributed to its strong financial position. The company has also introduced new revenues**, such as advertising in Prime content, which is expected to further boost the advertising business.
As Amazon leads the way in the ever-evolving tech landscape, it remains steadfast in its pursuit of innovation and customer satisfaction. The year is off to a good start, and the company is well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities presented by AI and e-commerce growth to set the stage for continued success in 2024 and beyond.