By Liz Moyer and Scott Kanowsky

Investing.com — Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) beat income expectations for the fourth quarter however top-line outcomes from its key cloud enterprise, Amazon Internet Companies, had been barely weaker than anticipated.

Shares of the e-commerce big fell 6% in after-hours buying and selling.

of $149.2 billion was 8.5% greater than the fourth quarter of 2021 and above the $145.7B anticipated by analysts. In the meantime, AWS – a serious revenue driver for Amazon – generated $21.4B, up 20% from the year-earlier quarter however barely lower than the $21.9B anticipated.

“Our relentless give attention to offering the broadest choice, distinctive worth, and quick supply drove buyer demand in our Shops enterprise in the course of the fourth quarter that exceeded our expectations—and we’re appreciative of all our clients who turned to Amazon this previous vacation season,” mentioned Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, in a press release.

Nevertheless, Jassy flagged that the corporate confronted an unsure economic system within the brief time period. Analysts at Jefferies mentioned Amazon’s outlook for current-quarter working revenue – seen at between $0 and $4.0 billion – “suggests continued price headwinds.”

For the primary quarter of 2023, Amazon mentioned web gross sales are anticipated to be between $121B and $126B, or to develop between 4% and eight% in contrast with the primary quarter of 2022. Analysts had projected first-quarter gross sales of $125B.

Amazon highlighted its 2022 vacation season, when clients purchased almost half a billion gadgets from small companies within the U.S. It mentioned throughout its greatest Thanksgiving-through-Cyber-Monday vacation purchasing weekend ever, small companies within the U.S. generated greater than $1B in gross sales.

The corporate reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of three cents. Analysts had forecast adjusted earnings per share of 17 cents.

For the complete 12 months, Amazon mentioned web gross sales elevated 9%, to $514.0B in 2022.