Amazon sales have surged 14 per cent during the fourth quarter, helped by strong holiday spending and a better-than-expected growth in its prominent cloud computing unit.
But the Seattle-based online behemoth’s shares fell nearly 10 per cent in after-hours trading as its profits came in slightly below analysts’ expectations.
Investors also didn’t seem to like Amazon’s announcement on Thursday that it was stepping up its capital expenditure to $US200 billion ($A286 billion) this year, up from $US125 billion ($A179 billion) in 2025 as it sees opportunities in artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors and satellites.
Wall Street analysts were expecting spending to rise to around $US147 billion ($A211 billion) this year, according to FactSet.
The results come as Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the e-commerce company in three months. It has said that most of these cuts are part of an effort to reduce the workforce that swelled during the pandemic, not because of artificial intelligence.
Separately Amazon said it would cut about 5000 retail workers, according to notices it sent to state workforce agencies in California, Maryland and Washington, resulting from its decision to close almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores.
That’s on top of a round of 14,000 job cuts in October, bringing the total to well over 30,000 since Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy first signalled a push for AI-driven organisational changes.
Analysts are analysing retailers’ performances for insight into how shoppers spent during the holidays and what’s in store for 2026. They also want to know how the online behemoth is managing cost increases given all the uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Amazon is also under pressure to shore up confidence that its computing arm Amazon Web Services is just as powerful as Microsoft’s Azure and Google’s Google Cloud platform.
Amazon delivered 24 per cent growth for AWS in the fourth quarter, the fastest in 13 quarters, the company said. That followed 20 per cent growth in the third quarter and a 17.5 per cent increase in the second.
Meta, Apple and other Big Tech firms are expected to ramp up their spending on artificial intelligence this year. After pouring $US91 billion ($A130 billion) into capital expenditures devoted mostly to AI, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, disclosed Wednesday that it expects to double down by spending another $US175 billion ($A251 billion) to $US185 billion ($A265 billion) this year.
Amazon also continues to invest in its speedy fulfilment network, through a combination of robotics, AI technology and more efficient warehousing.
The online retailer said it now delivers groceries in 5000 US cities and towns. In many of them, customers can get same-day delivery of fresh produce and other perishables. Based on strong customer feedback, it said it plans to expand its same-day delivery to more places this year.
Amazon is also reworking its physical store footprint.
Last week, it said that it was closing almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations within days as it narrows its focus on food delivery and its grocery chain, Whole Foods Market.
Some of the shuttered stores will be converted into Whole Foods locations, the company said in a blog post last week.
Amazon reported net income of $US21.2 billion ($A30.4 billion), or $US1.95 ($A2.79) per share, for the three-month period ended December 31. That compares with $US20 billion ($A29 billion), or $US1.86 ($A2.66) per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue rose to $US213.4 billion ($A305.7 billion) in the fourth quarter, compared with $US187.8 billion ($A269.0 billion) in the year-ago period.
Analysts were expecting $US1.97 ($A2.82) per share on sales of $US211.4 billion ($A302.8 billion), according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue from Amazon Web Services reached $US35.6 billion ($A51.0 billion). Analysts were expecting $US34.9 billion ($A50.0 billion).
The company said that it expects sales to be between $US173.5 billion ($A248.5 billion) and $US178.5 billion ($A255.7 billion) for the first quarter.
Analysts are projecting $US175.6 billion ($A251.5 billion).
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
