Amazon.com Inc. closed out last year with a big quarter of profit growth that reflected its efforts to cut costs, improve its fulfillment efficiency and make further inroads into the advertising market. The company on Thursday reported $13.2 billion in operating income for the fourth quarter, up from $2.7 billion a year before. Analysts had been modeling $10.4 billion.
Looking to the first quarter, Amazon
AMZN,
+2.63%
anticipates $8.0 billion to $12.0 billion in operating income, whereas the FactSet consensus was for $9.0 billion. The stock was up 4% in Thursday’s extended session. Amazon’s fourth-quarter revenue rose to $170.0 billion from $149.2 billion, while the FactSet consensus had been for $166.0 billion. The company generated $105.5 in North America-segment revenue, up 13% from a year earlier. “Our approach of democratizing AI is resonating with customers,” Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call with reporters late Thursday. However, he did not break out AI-related sales. He said the company’s new artificial-intelligence assistant for shopping, called Rufus, will improve the customer experience. “If we do it right, and we intend to, it will lead to a better shopping experience,” he said. Olsavsky noted a “really strong” holiday season aided by aggressive promotions tied to Prime and a …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Looking to the first quarter, Amazon
AMZN,
+2.63%
anticipates $8.0 billion to $12.0 billion in operating income, whereas the FactSet consensus was for $9.0 billion. The stock was up 4% in Thursday’s extended session. Amazon’s fourth-quarter revenue rose to $170.0 billion from $149.2 billion, while the FactSet consensus had been for $166.0 billion. The company generated $105.5 in North America-segment revenue, up 13% from a year earlier. “Our approach of democratizing AI is resonating with customers,” Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call with reporters late Thursday. However, he did not break out AI-related sales. He said the company’s new artificial-intelligence assistant for shopping, called Rufus, will improve the customer experience. “If we do it right, and we intend to, it will lead to a better shopping experience,” he said. Olsavsky noted a “really strong” holiday season aided by aggressive promotions tied to Prime and a …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]