Amazon posted quarterly revenue of $75.5 billion for its online shopping business, up 7% year over year from the same period in 2023. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

E-commerce and technology giant Amazon reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter, but company officials predicted slower growth for the upcoming period.

The Seattle-based company’s revenue guidance for first-quarter 2025 net sales is between $151 billion and $155.5 billion, lower than the $158.56 billion that analysts were expecting.

The guidance anticipates an unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rates, said CFO Brian Olsavsky.

“We estimate the year-over-year impact of changes in foreign exchange rates based on current rates, which we expect to be a headwind of approximately $2.1 billion in Q1 year over year, or 150 basis points,” Olsavsky said during a call with analysts after the market closed Thursday. “Global currencies can fluctuate during the quarter, just as we saw in Q4 with the strengthening of the dollar versus most other currencies.”

Amazon’s first-quarter operating income is expected to be between $14 billion and $18 billion.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) posted fourth-quarter revenue of $187.8 billion, a 10.4% year-over-year increase compared to the same period in 2023.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.86 for the period, an 86% year-over-year increase from the fourth quarter of 2023.

Amazon beat Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter revenue of $187.3 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.49.

For its online shopping business, Amazon reported quarterly revenue of $75.5 billion, up 7% year over year from the same period in 2023.

“Customers continue to want Amazon to be the place they rely on for sharp pricing,” CEO Andy Jassy said during the analyst call. “Our speed of delivery continues to accelerate in 2024, which was another record-setting year for Prime members.”

Operating income increased 60.6% year over year to $21.2 billion, while net income increased to 88.6% year over year to $20 billion in the third quarter.

The company’s North American sales increased 10% year over year to $115.6 billion, while its international sales increased 9% year over year to $43.4 billion.

Amazon expanded the number of same-day delivery sites by more than 60% in 2024 and now serves more than 140 metro areas, according to Jassy.

“We delivered over 9 billion units the same or next day around the world,” he said. “We’ve also spent considerable time optimizing the number of items we send customers in the same package, which reduces packaging, is more convenient for customers and less expensive for us to fulfill.”

Jassy said Amazon is also finding ways to optimize its delivery systems.

“Our per-unit transportation costs continue to decline as we build out and optimize our last-mile network. Overall, we’ve reduced our global cost to serve on a per-unit basis for the second year in a row, while, at the same time, increasing speed, improving safety and adding selection,” he said. “As we look to 2025, we see an opportunity to reduce costs again, as we further refine inventory placement, grow our same-day delivery network, accelerate robotics and automation throughout the network.”

AmazonQ4/24Q4/23Y/Y % ChangeRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeShipping costsNorth America segment salesInternational segment salesAdjusted earnings per share

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