Amazon

Amazon concluded 2024 with an exceptionally strong fourth quarter, reporting total net sales of $187.8 billion, a 10% increase year-over-year (11% excluding foreign exchange). The North America segment led with sales of $115.6 billion, growing 10%, while the International segment achieved $43.4 billion in sales, up 8% (9% ex-FX). Amazon Web Services (AWS) continued its robust expansion, with sales climbing 19% to $28.8 billion. Beyond the core segments, key revenue streams also performed well: Online stores grew 7% to $75.6 billion, Physical stores increased 8% to $5.6 billion, Third-party seller services rose 9% to $47.5 billion, Advertising services surged 18% to $17.3 billion, and Subscription services saw a 10% increase to $11.5 billion, demonstrating broad-based strength across Amazon's diverse portfolio.

Profitability metrics showed significant improvement. Operating income soared 61% to $21.2 billion in Q4 2024, compared to $13.2 billion in Q4 2023. This was driven by strong performance across all segments, with North America operating income reaching $9.3 billion (up from $6.5 billion), International segment turning a $0.4 billion operating loss into a $1.3 billion profit, and AWS operating income growing to $10.6 billion (up from $7.2 billion). The consolidated operating margin expanded to 11.3% from 7.8% in the prior year. Net income dramatically increased by 88% to $20.0 billion, resulting in diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.86, an 86% rise from $1.00. For the trailing twelve months, operating cash flow increased 36% to $115.9 billion, and free cash flow rose 4% to $38.2 billion, underscoring strong operational efficiency and cash generation.

CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the quarter as Amazon's most successful holiday shopping season, attributing success to customer and partner support, and emphasizing remarkable innovation across all businesses. He specifically pointed to AWS advancements, including the new Trainium2 AI chip, Amazon Nova foundation models, and enhanced features in Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker, which offer customers greater flexibility, cost savings, and transformative capabilities in AI and data management. Other strategic achievements included delivering over 65% more items to U.S. Prime members same-day or overnight than in Q4 2023, a record-breaking Black Friday/Cyber Monday, being named the lowest-priced U.S. retailer, and strong performance in Prime Video and Kindle device sales.

Looking ahead, Amazon provided optimistic guidance for the first quarter of 2025, projecting net sales between $151.0 billion and $155.5 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 5% to 9%. This guidance anticipates a significant unfavorable foreign exchange impact of approximately $2.1 billion. Operating income is expected to be between $14.0 billion and $18.0 billion, compared to $15.3 billion in Q1 2024. The company's continued investment in AI, logistics optimization, and customer experience, coupled with strong segment performance, positions it for sustained growth and market leadership, despite potential macroeconomic and foreign exchange headwinds.