Amazon shares soar as Q4 sales beat estimates

The news: Amazon shares jumped during after-hours trading as the tech giant posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates.

The numbers: The US firm reported around USD170 billion ($259 billion) in fourth-quarter sales, above average estimates of USD166 billion. Amazon expects Q1 sales between USD138 billion and USD143.5 billion, taking growth to between 8% and 13% compared to the prior corresponding period. Meanwhile, sales at the company's cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services rose 13% in the fourth quarter to USD24.2 billion, up from the previous quarter but below the 20% sales growth seen in Q4 2023. Amazon shares lifted more than 7% in extended trading.

The context: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted that the fourth quarter saw a record-breaking holiday shopping season which helped close out a "robust" year for the company. Jassy also highlighted that efficiencies through new generative AI capabilities like Bedrock, Q and Trainium are starting to be reflected in the overall results.