Amazon posts $149.2 bn in net sales, faces short-term uncertainty

Amazon on Friday reported that its net sales increased 9 per cent to $149.2 billion in the fourth quarter that ended December 31, compared with $137.4 billion in fourth quarter 2021.

The Jeff Bezos-founded e-commerce giant said that excluding the $5 billion unfavourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 12 per cent compared with fourth quarter 2021.

Net income decreased to $0.3 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $14.3 billion.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) sales increased 20 per cent year-over-year to $21.4 billion.

Amazon now expects to post first-quarter revenue of between $121 billion and $126 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 4-8 per cent.

"Our relentless focus on providing the broadest selection, exceptional value, and fast delivery drove customer demand in our Stores business during the fourth quarter that exceeded our expectations -- and we're appreciative of all our customers who turned to Amazon this past holiday season," said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO.

"In the short term, we face an uncertain economy, but we remain quite optimistic about the long-term opportunities for Amazon," he added.

Last month, Amazon announced to lay off 18,000 employees among its corporate workforce, after cutting a number of employees in November.

"We're working really hard to streamline our costs and trying to do so at the same time so that we don't give up on the long-term strategic investments that we believe can meaningfully change broad customer experiences and change Amazon over the long-term," Jassy said on the analysts' call.

--IANS

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