Amazon's stock shot up 10 percent after the bell on Thursday following a fourth-quarter earnings report that showed steady growth for the tech giant.
The bump pushed the company’s stock closer to a $1 trillion market cap.
The results reflect a year of heavy investment for the company as it expanded customer benefits like one-day delivery and sought out larger clients for its profitable cloud computing business.
All the heightened spending has led to some concern among investors, but this latest report shows that the investments could be paying off.
Net sales for the quarter were $87.4 billion, compared with $72.4 billion last year. Total net sales for the year were $281 billion, compared to $233 billion in 2018.
Earnings per share were $6.47 compared with $6.04 last year. And net income was $3.3 billion compared with $3 billion last year.
Amazon.com sales in North America represented 61 percent of net sales, with year-over-year growth of 22 percent, while the international division made up 27 percent of sales, with year over year growth of 14 percent.
North American sales pulled in $1.9 billion in income after operating expenses, while internationally the company operated at a loss of $617 million.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the tech giant's cloud computing business that has come to dominate profits in recent years, made up 12 percent of net sales, with 34 percent year over year growth. The business generated $9.9 billion in income for the quarter.
The growth rate is still the lowest for AWS since Amazon started disclosing the unit's revenue in 2015, which analysts attribute to additional investments aimed at picking up larger clients.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos noted in the release that one-day and same-day delivery, which quadrupled from the same quarter last year, have helped drive sales. He also touted the growth in Amazon Prime memberships amid growing competition from other streaming services.
"Prime membership continues to get better for customers year after year. And customers are responding — more people joined Prime this quarter than ever before, and we now have over 150 million paid Prime members around the world," he said.
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
