Amazon.com Inc. late Thursday posted fourth-quarter diluted earnings of 3 cents per share, below analysts’ consensus of 17 cents per share and a far cry from the $1.39-per-share level of the fourth quarter of 2021.
Sales rose 9% to $149.2 billion, which beat analysts’ expectations. Excluding a $5 billion currency headwind in the quarter, year-on-year sales increased 12%, Amazon said.
Operating income fell to $2.7 billion from $3.5 billion in the 2021 quarter. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) took a $2.7 billion charge in the quarter related to self-insurance liabilities, impairments of property and equipment and operating leases, and estimated severance costs.
Amazon’s net income dropped to $300 million in the quarter, compared with $14.3 billion in net income during the fourth quarter of 2021. The 2022 quarterly figure includes a $2.3 billion pretax loss on Amazon’s investment in electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN). That was compared to a pretax gain of $11.8 billion in the 2021 quarter.
Rivian shares went public in late 2021 at about $180 per share. They have fallen steeply since then. Shares closed Thursday at $20.88.
Amazon guided first-quarter 2023 sales to between $121 billion and $126 billion, a gain that would fall within the range of 4% to 8%.Operating income is expected to range between zero and $4 billion, Amazon said. That’s compared to $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Shipping costs in the quarter, typically Amazon’s busiest because of the holiday season, hit $24.7 billion. That was 4% above the fourth quarter of 2021.
Amazon shares, which rose 7.3% during regular Thursday trading, dipped 4% in after-hours trade.