Amazon’s first-quarter earnings and revenue were better than expected, causing the stock to rise.
Revenue increased by 17% to US$181.5 billion, surpassing LSEG's expectations of $177.30 billion.
This was boosted by a 28% year-over-year revenue increase in its cloud segment to $37.59 billion, marking its fastest growth in more than three years, and coming in above expectations of $36.64 billion.
Net income increased to $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share, from last year’s $17.1 billion or $1.59 per share.
Earnings per share also came in ahead of LSEG's $1.64 expectation.
Advertising also beat expectations of $16.87 billion, coming in at $17.24 billion.
The company is also increasing its investment in AI, alongside other tech giants, after it projected its capital expenditures would reach $200 billion in 2026 in February.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has also highlighted the company’s homegrown chips business as a beneficiary of the AI boom, calling out the segment near the top of its earnings release.
“We’re in the middle of some of the biggest inflections of our lifetime, we’re well-positioned to lead, and I’m very optimistic about what’s ahead for our customers and Amazon,” Jassy said in a statement.
Amazon expects income to be between $20 billion and $24 billion for the current quarter, while analysts are projecting $22.65 billion.
The company also announced this year’s Prime Day discount bonanza that will be held in June, a month earlier than its usual timeframe.
Amazon’s workforce fell by 1,000 employees since the fourth quarter, bringing its total to 1.57 million, which is relatively flat from last year.
This comes after the company announced it would eliminate around 16,000 employees at the top of the first quarter.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares closed 1.29% higher at $263.04 and rose a further 3.27% in after-market trading to $271.65. Its market cap is $2.83 trillion.
