Amazon net sales jump to $149.2 billion in fourth quarter

Amazon.com, Inc. has announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022. Net sales increased 9% to $149.2 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $137.4 billion in fourth quarter 2021.
Excluding the $5.0 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 12% compared with fourth quarter 2021. North America segment sales increased 13% year-over-year to $93.4 billion, or increased 14% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. International segment sales decreased 8% year-over-year to $34.5 billion, or increased 5% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. AWS segment sales increased 20% year-over-year to $21.4 billion.
Operating income decreased to $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $3.5 billion in fourth quarter 2021. Fourth quarter 2022 operating income includes approximately $2.7 billion of charges for changes in estimates related to self-insurance liabilities, impairments of property and equipment and operating leases, and estimated severance costs. These charges primarily impacted the North America segment. North America segment operating loss was $0.2 billion, compared with operating loss of $0.2 billion in fourth quarter 2021.
International segment operating loss was $2.2 billion, compared with operating loss of $1.6 billion in fourth quarter 2021.
AWS segment operating income was $5.2 billion, compared with operating income of $5.3 billion in fourth quarter 2021.
Net income decreased to $0.3 billion in the fourth quarter, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared with $14.3 billion, or $1.39 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2021. All share and per share information for comparable prior year periods throughout this release have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the 20-for-1 stock split effected on May 27, 2022.
Fourth quarter 2022 net income includes a pre-tax valuation loss of $2.3 billion included in non-operating income (expense) from the common stock investment in Rivian Automotive, Inc., compared to a pre-tax valuation gain of $11.8 billion from the investment in fourth quarter 2021.
“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.

“We’re also encouraged by the continued progress
we’re making in reducing our cost to serve in the operations part of our Stores business. In the short term, we face an uncertain economy, but we remain quite optimistic about the long-term opportunities for Amazon. The vast majority of total market segment share in both Global Retail and IT still reside in physical stores and on-premises datacenters; and as this equation steadily flips, we believe our leading customer experiences in these areas along with the results of our continued hard work and invention to improve every day, will lead to significant growth in the coming years. When you also factor in our investments and innovation in several other broad customer experiences (e.g. streaming entertainment, customer-first healthcare, broadband satellite connectivity for more communities globally), there’s additional reason to feel optimistic about what the future holds.”