Amazon ended a record-breaking 2024 with a strong fourth quarter that CEO Andy Jassy called the conglomerate’s “most successful” holiday shopping season to date.
Total revenue in the quarter rose 10%, to $187.8 billion, but online sales increased at a slower pace, 7%, to $75.5 billion. One highlight in the period was what the company described as the strongest fourth quarter sales in over a decade for the Kindle, which was introduced in 2008. The e-tailer attributed the 30% increase in Kindle sales to the new generation of Kindle products introduced in 2024.
For the full year, Amazon reported a 11% increase in revenue, to $638 billion, while operating income soared 86%, to $68.6 billion. As has been the case for several years, the company’s cloud computing service, AWS, contributed the majority of Amazon’s operating income, generating $39.8 billion in profits—approximately 58% of the company’s operating income.
In just one indication of how large Amazon is, the company noted that one factor in estimating results for the first quarter was the impacted it received last year from 2024 being a Leap Year. The extra day generated approximately $1.5 billion in sales.
Most of the discussion surrounding Amazon’s results centered on technology, and the amount the company intends to invest in AWS and AI development going forward. Jassy estimated the company could spend $100 billion to fund those areas this year.
While Amazon finished 2024 along the lines most analysts expected, its forecast for the first quarter was a disappointment—particularly its forecast for profits. In fact, operating profits could fall, with Amazon projecting earnings in the $14–18 billion range, compared to operating income of $15.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Revenue is is expected to increase by 5–9%.
