**Amazon’s Stock Rises as Earnings Scream Above Forecasts**:

 

Each massive On Thursday, Amazon.com (AMZN) released its quarterly results, exceeding analysts’ projections for revenue and profitability. In trading after hours, Amazon’s stock surged.

The leader in cloud computing and e-commerce reported

 

 $1 earnings per share for the December-ending quarter, on revenues of $170 billion. According to FactSet, analysts predicted that the corporation would report earnings per share of 80 cents on sales of $165.9 billion for the December quarter.

The quarter’s sales rose 14% year over year, while profits more than doubled from 3 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

As for Amazon Web Services, its $24.2 billion in sales rose 13% year over year, in line with forecasts for the highly monitored cloud computing industry.

Amazon predicted sales of $138 billion to $143.5 billion for the current quarter. According to FactSet, analysts were anticipating $142 billion in revenue from Amazon for the March quarter going into the report.

Amazon increased more than 8% to 172.39 in after-hours trading on the stock exchange today.

 

**Amazon’s Stock Rises as Earnings Q4 Financial Results**:

Sales from Amazon’s direct online stores climbed to $70.5 billion in the quarter, a better-than-expected 8% annual growth.

 

In the meantime, Amazon’s fastest-growing industry continues to be advertising. Revenue increased by 26% annually to $14.7 billion. Amazon began running advertisements on its Prime video program last month.

Third-party seller services represented the second-fastest increasing revenue stream for the organization. For the fourth quarter, Amazon’s fees from businesses selling on its platform climbed by 19% to $43.6 billion.

Physical retailers like Whole Foods continued to lag behind. The division’s revenue climbed by 4% to $5.2 billion.

 

AWS’s revenue growth from the previous year increased by 13%, which was an improvement over the division’s third-quarter growth rate of 12%. Following a dip in growth last year, analysts have been searching for indications that AWS could expand sales again.

 

The cloud computing industry continues to be a major source of revenue. Out of Amazon’s overall operating income of $13.2 billion, AWS contributed $7.2 billion.

 

However, the retail division of Amazon in North America made $6.5 billion in operational income during the quarter as opposed to a $200 million operating loss during the same period last year.

 

.A news statement from Andy Jassy, the CEO of the firm, stated that Amazon had a fantastic 2023 and that the Christmas shopping season this quarter shattered records. “While we made meaningful profit, operating income, or free cash flow progress, what we’re most pleased with is the continued invention and customer outstand  experience improvements across businesses.”

 

**Start of the Year: Amazon Stock Up Slightly**:

 

Before the release, Amazon’s shares closed Thursday’s trading at 159.67, up 2.8% from the previous session. Additionally, Rufus, a new shopping assistant driven by generative AI, was unveiled by the company. As to Amazon’s statement, Rufus would offer a “professional shopper knowledgeable about Amazon’s product range and online data.” 

 

As of Thursday, Amazon has a Relative Strength Rating of 89 on IBD Stock Checkup, meaning it has outperformed 89% of all stocks over the last 12 months.

 

Amazon’s IBD Composite Rating is 92, with 99 being the best. This rating represents strength across a range of technical and fundamental criteria that are associated with excellent stock performance.