The fourth quarter saw Amazon post strong overall and product sales gains and a big earnings advance that topped analyst estimates.
Amazon’s North America results advanced, driven by selection expansion, price cuts and greater convenience, including faster delivery, the company reported.
Net income was $20 billion, or $1.86 per diluted share, versus $10.62 billion, or $1 per diluted share, in the year-previous quarter.
A Zacks Investment Research analyst consensus estimate called for earnings per diluted share of $1.52 and revenue of $187.28 billion.
Product sales in the quarter were $82.23 billion and total sales were $187.79 billion versus $76.7 billion and $169.96 billion, respectively, in the year-prior period. Operating income was $21.2 billion versus $13.21 billion in the year-before quarter, Amazon stated.
North American sales were $115.59 billion and operating income was $9.26 billion, the company noted, versus $105.51 billion and $6.46 billion, respectively, in the year-earlier quarter.
Full-year net income was $59.25 billion, or $5.53 per diluted share, versus $30.43 billion, or $2.90 per diluted share in the previous year.
Product sales were $272.31 billion and total sales were $637.96 billion versus $255.89 and $574.79 billion, respectively, in the year prior. Operating income was $68.59 billion versus $36.85 billion in the year before, Amazon maintained
North American sales were $387.5 billion and operating income was $24.97 billion, the company indicated, versus $352.83 billion and $14.88 billion, respectively, in the year earlier.
Among recent highlights, as noted by Amazon:
- Orders were delivered at the company’s fastest speeds ever for Prime members in 2024.
- Amazon delivered 65% more items to Prime members in the United States on the same day or overnight than in Q4 2023.
- Amazon held a record-breaking Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deal event that was also the largest ever for independent sellers in Amazon’s stores.
- The company launched Amazon Haul, a new shopping experience in Amazon’s U.S. shopping app and mobile site, with ultra-low prices.
In a conference call, Andy Jassy, Amazon president and CEO, said the company’s North American segment enjoyed 10% year-over-year revenue growth while international was up 9%, excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates. The company’s focus on expanding selection, lowering prices and improving convenience drove growth, he said.
Amazon continues to broaden selection, Jassy said, boosting shopper choice across a range of price points. That includes hundreds of millions of products offered from the company’s marketplace selling partners that made up 61% of items purchased on the Amazon platform in 2024, the highest annual proportion of third-party units moved in the company’s history.
In the fourth quarter, the company’s Amazon Haul launched for U.S. customers interested in ultra-low price point goods. The move put Amazon in more direct competition with low-price e-tailers that emerged from Asia, including Shein and Temu.
In holiday-related initiatives, Jassy said, Prime Big Deal Days in October, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday set sales records. In fiscal 2024, he said, the speed of delivery continued to accelerate, with the number of same-day drop-off geographies increasing by more than 60%. Jassy said the pursuit of better selection, price and delivery speed is driving accelerated growth in Prime membership.
In announcing fourth-quarter results, Jassy said, “The holiday shopping season was the most successful yet. When we look back on this quarter several years from now, I suspect what we’ll most remember is the remarkable innovation delivered across all of our businesses.”
