Amazon's revenue increased to $143 billion in the first quarter – E24

The internet giant increased its sales by 13 percent in the first quarter of the year compared to the same quarter last year. The stock is rising significantly in after-market trading on Wall Street.

Updating topic…

This shows the numbers from Amazon for the first quarter of 2024:

• Revenue was $143.3 billion, versus $142.59 billion expected, according to Bloomberg estimates.
• Operating profit was $15.3 billion, compared to the expected $10.95 billion.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud storage service revenue reached $25 billion, versus $24.11 billion expected.

This is the first publication of results after Amazon in January introduced a new revenue stream in the form of advertising on Prime video.

Amazon shares fell in trading on Wall Street before the numbers were released, but rose significantly in after-market trading.

Growth in cloud services

The cloud services sector now represents a large part of Amazon's growth.

While total trading volume increased by 13 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, the increase in AWS was 17 percent.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy cites interest in artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities provided by the cloud services sector as a driver behind AWS's growth. In a press release, Jassy said AWS's annual revenue is now expected to reach about $100 billion.

“It's been a good start to the year at the corporate level, which is reflected in the improvement in customer experiences and financial results,” says Jassy.

Tech rush on Wall Street

Last week, tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla reported quarterly numbers.

Both Alphabet and Microsoft delivered better-than-expected numbers, well driven by growth in cloud services and demand for AI services.

Amazon has so far been the biggest player in cloud sharing, but competition in the sector is now more intense, Bloomberg reported.