---
title: "Amazon beats quarterly revenue estimates, cloud growth lags"
description: "Amazon's holiday cheer lifted its retail revenue to jolly heights, but with cloud sales dampening the mood, investors are left wondering if it's time for a tech intervention or just a seasonal slump."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-07-amazon-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-cloud-growth-lags/"
published: "2025-02-07T04:00:50"
updated: "2025-02-06T23:28:34"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 263
---

# Amazon beats quarterly revenue estimates, cloud growth lags

> Amazon's holiday cheer lifted its retail revenue to jolly heights, but with cloud sales dampening the mood, investors are left wondering if it's time for a tech intervention or just a seasonal slump.

By Reuters · Published 7 February 2025, 06:00 SAST · Updated 7 February 2025, 01:28 SAST

## Key points
- Amazon's holiday cheer lifted its retail revenue to jolly heights, but with cloud sales dampening the mood, investors are left wondering if it's time for a tech intervention or just a seasonal slump.
- Amazon.com exceeded Wall Street's revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, driven by robust holiday retail sales.
- Despite strong retail performance, shares dipped 2% in after-hours trading.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw a 19% revenue increase to $28.79 billion, slightly missing forecasts.
- Overall revenue reached $187.8 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $187.30 billion.

## Content

- Amazon.com topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as strong sales over the holiday shopping season boosted its retail business, helping offset weakness in the cloud computing unit.

Shares of the company fell 2% in extended trading.

The company's cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reported a 19% rise in revenue to $28.79 billion, falling short of estimates of $28.87 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Amazon joins smaller cloud providers Microsoft and Google in [reporting weak cloud numbers](https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-parent-alphabet-misses-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2025-02-04/).

Amazon.com topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as strong sales over the holiday shopping season boosted its retail business, helping offset weakness in the cloud computing unit.

Shares of the company fell 2% in extended trading.

The company's cloud unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reported a 19% rise in revenue to $28.79 billion, falling short of estimates of $28.87 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Amazon joins smaller cloud providers Microsoft and Google in [reporting weak cloud numbers](https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-parent-alphabet-misses-quarterly-revenue-estimates-2025-02-04/).

The cloud weakness comes at a time when investors have grown increasingly impatient with Big Tech's multibillion-dollar capital spending and are hungry for returns from the hefty AI investments.

Still, Amazon's retail business helped offset the cloud weakness, with the company reporting online sales growth of 7% in the quarter to $75.56 billion. That compared with estimates of $74.55 billion.

The company reported revenue of $187.8 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of $187.30 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta