Amazon surpasses projections with strong holiday season results
Amazon announces a remarkable increase in revenue, surpassing expectations by reaching $170 billion in the last quarter of the preceding year
E-commerce powerhouse Amazon reported a surge in sales to a higher-than-anticipated $170 billion in the final quarter of the previous year following an exceptional holiday period.
CEO Andy Jassy remarked that the fourth quarter marked a new high in holiday shopping and concluded a strong 2023 for Amazon.
Over the past year, Amazon’s stock has climbed by 50%, with investors lauding the company’s aggressive cost-cutting measures and a rise in revenue at the start of the year.
During Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events, over 1 billion items were purchased globally.
Amazon disclosed a net profit of $10.6 billion in the October-December period, exceeding analyst predictions and reflecting investor confidence.
Having trimmed around 27,000 positions last year, Amazon justified the move as necessary after years of continuous recruitment.
By the end of 2023, the company’s workforce numbered 1.53 million, a 1% decrease from the previous year.
Amazon’s cloud division AWS, often hailed as the firm’s cash generator, expanded by 13% in the fourth quarter.
Although this growth was not as robust as Microsoft’s 30% surge in its cloud business, Amazon’s advertising arm saw a notable 26% uptick, reinforcing its competition against advertising giants like Meta and Google.
In a bid to enhance its AI capabilities, Amazon revealed plans to trial a chatbot named Rufus, aimed at offering shopping advice to American mobile app users.
Similar to other tech giants, Amazon is grappling with heightened regulatory scrutiny, including a lawsuit from a prominent U.S. antitrust authority in September, alleging monopolistic practices.
Despite regulatory challenges, Amazon emphasized its support for small and medium-sized businesses, noting that US customers ordered over 500 million items from independent sellers.
Following objections from the EU’s antitrust watchdog over competition concerns, Amazon announced on Monday that it had abandoned its acquisition plans for the iRobot vacuum maker.
Source: AFP
