Amazon Posts Strong Q4 and FY24, But Tempers Outlook
Amazon just wrapped a big fourth quarter, with a 10% lift in net sales to hit $187.8 billion and a year-over-year (YoY) operating income leap to $21.2 billion from $13.2 billion. That quarterly performance may put Amazon ahead of Walmart, which is expected to post $180 billion in quarterly sales its financial report out on Feb. 20.
The solid fourth quarter propelled Amazon to a strong finish on its fiscal year, too. For the full year, net sales rose 11% to $638.0 billion versus $574.8 billion in 2023, and operating income spiked to $68.6 billion from $36.9 billion.
President and CEO Andy Jassy pointed to some key achievements in Q4 and FY2024. “The holiday shopping season was the most successful yet for Amazon and we appreciate the support of our customers, selling partners, and employees who helped make it so,” he remarked. On top of a record-breaking Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday event, Amazon delivered at its fastest speeds every for Prime members in the recently-concluded 12-month period.
Jassy underscored innovations that fueled the pace of business and reach. “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,” he said, citing advances in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) business such as a new Trainium2 AI chip, New Amazon Bedrock models and features, and an upgraded Amazon SageMaker that pulls data, analytics, and AI together in a more concerted way.
While Amazon touted successes on the video streaming, devices and web services sides of the business, the company also made gains in physical stores, including its Amazon Fresh grocery banner. Net sales at brick-and-mortar Amazon locations rose 8% YoY to nearly $5.58 billion. The leaders did not delve into details on Amazon Fresh or the Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market performances during the earnings call, however.
[RELATED: Whole Foods Market CEO Named VP of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores]
As for the short-term future, 2025 may be another story for the retail behemoth. Amazon forecasts net sales to land between $151 billion and $155.5 billion for the first quarter, below the previous estimate of $158.5 billion.
“Looking ahead, we have an opportunity to keep lowering costs, but there are two items impacting our first quarter revenue guidance,” said SVP and CFO Brian Olsavsky in the earnings call, citing the YoY impact of foreign exchange rates, uneven global currencies and the impact of the extra selling day of Leap Year in 2024.
Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century.
