The third quarter was kind to Amazon.com as it beat Wall Street estimates on sales and earnings while generating substantially more product and service revenues.
Net income was $15.33 billion, or $1.43 per diluted share, versus $9.88 billion, or 94 cents per diluted share, in the year-previous quarter, the company reported
A MarketBeat-published analyst consensus estimate called for earnings per diluted share of $1.14 and revenues of $157.28 billion.
Net revenues were $158.88 billion versus $143.08 billion in the year-prior quarter. Product sales were $67.6 billion and service sales were $91.28 billion versus $63.17 billion and $79.91 billion, respectively, in the year-past period. Operating income was $17.41 billion versus $11.19 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
North American segment sales advanced 9% year-over-year to $95.54 billion, while international segment sales increased 12% to $35.89 billion, and AWS segment sales increased 19% to $27.45 billion. North America segment operating income was $5.66 billion versus $4.31 billion in the fiscal 2023 quarter, with international segment operating income coming in at $1.3 billion versus a loss of $95 million in the third quarter of 2023 and AWS segment operating income coming in at $10.45 billion versus $6.98 billion.
In announcing its earnings, Amazon highlighted several actions the company has recently taken, such as:
- Inaugurating its first-ever fuel savings offer for Prime, giving members in the United States 10 cents off a gallon on fuel at about 7,000 bp, Amoco, and ampm locations.
- Expanding its selection of brands with, among others, AllSaints, Beats x Kim, Estée Lauder and Kate Spade New York.
- Announcing plans to hire 250,000 people across its U.S. operations ahead of the holiday season.
Rolled out generative AI-powered features, including Rufus, its GenAI shopping assistant, in Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, and the UK, as well as AI Shopping Guides that simplify shopper research, Project Amelia, an AI assistant for marketplace sellers and video generation and live image capabilities for participants in its advertising program.
In a conference call, Andy Jassy, Amazon president and CEO, pointed out that the company continues to emphasize faster delivery and he noted that it continues to open same-day delivery facilities. Amazon recently rolled out its 12th-generation fulfillment center design, with the first building launching in Shreveport, LA. The new facility is Amazon’s first to incorporate the company’s latest robotics inventions to simplify the stowing, picking, packing, and shipping processes.
As he announced the financial results, Jassy said, “As we get into the holiday season, we’re excited about what we have in store for customers. We kicked off the holiday season with out biggest-ever Prime Big Deal Days and the launch of an all-new Kindle lineup that is significantly outperforming our expectations, and there’s so much more coming, from tens of millions of deals to our NFL Black Friday game and Election Day coverage with Brian Williams on Prime Video, to over 100 new cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities that we’ll share at AWS re:Invent the week after Thanksgiving.”
