Amazon has released its Q4 2024 financial results, surpassing analysts’ expectations. Revenue rose by 10% to $187.8 billion, while net profit reached $20 billion. Despite these impressive figures, forecasts for the next quarter are more cautious, causing market concern and a drop in Amazon’s stock by over 3% in after-hours trading.

What’s driving this success?

Strong North American sales – this segment generated $115.6 billion, marking a 10% year-over-year increase.
International growth – sales increased by 8% to $43.4 billion.
AWS fuels expansion – Amazon Web Services saw a 19% revenue increase, reaching $28.8 billion.
Higher profitability – operating profit hit $21.2 billion, a significant jump from $13.2 billion in Q4 2023.
Advertising remains strong – ad revenue totaled $17.3 billion.

Growth in key business areas

Retail: Steady growth across markets

Retail remains Amazon’s largest revenue source. In Q4 2024, North American revenue grew by 10% to $115.6 billion, while international sales rose by 8% to $43.4 billion. Adjusted for currency fluctuations, growth stood at 9%.
Amazon continues expanding with enhanced shopping experiences, efficient logistics, and customer loyalty. The holiday season played a crucial role – CEO Andy Jassy highlighted it as Amazon’s best shopping season ever.

AWS – Amazon’s growth engine

AWS saw the highest growth, with Q4 revenue reaching $28.8 billion, up 19% year-over-year. AWS operating profit rose to $10.6 billion (from $7.2 billion in Q4 2023).
Amazon is investing in cloud services:

• New AI chip Trainium2 – lowers AI model processing costs.
• Amazon Bedrock – AI platform for custom models.
• Amazon SageMaker – advanced data analytics and AI model management.

Will Amazon maintain momentum in 2025?

Despite strong Q4 results, Amazon’s Q1 2025 forecast of $151-155.5 billion is slightly below market expectations. Challenges include:

• Cloud competition – rivalry with Microsoft and Google.
• Operational costs – pressure to optimize efficiency.
• Consumer demand shifts – evolving shopping behavior.

Conclusion

Amazon ended 2024 with record-breaking results, doubling net profit and achieving strong growth. The question remains: will 2025 bring new highs or a slowdown? One thing is certain – tech giants cannot afford stagnation.