Proactive Investors - Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is set to return to share price levels last seen two years ago after reporting robust fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, outperforming analysts' expectations.
The e-commerce giant reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1, up from $0.03 a year earlier and surpassing the average Wall Street estimate of $0.78.
Quarterly net revenue mushroomed 14% year on year to reach $170 billion, outpacing the $166.3 billion consensus forecast and the $167 billion top end of guidance, in what CEO Andy Jassy said was a record-breaking holiday shopping season to close out a "robust" 2023.
The advertising segment contributed $14.7 billion, surpassing the $14.2 billion forecast, but Amazon Web Services (AWS) sales of $24.2 billion, while up 13% on a year ago, were slightly below the estimated $24.22 billion.
But the Seattle-based group provided an optimistic outlook for the start of its new fiscal year, projecting net sales between $138 billion to $143.5 billion for the first quarter, representing 8-13% growth and compared to the Street's estimated $142.01 billion.
Operating income guidance was a range between $8 billion and $12 billion, compared with $4.8 billion a year ago.
Shares of Amazon were up around 5.7% in aftermarket trading on Thursday following the earnings beat.