The fourth quarter at Amazon generated sales that exceeded analyst estimates but earnings that fell short, as the company announced it would invest heavily in capacity expansion, including for its retail operations.
A Zacks Investment Research analyst consensus estimate called for earnings per diluted share of $1.98 on revenues of $211.46 billion.
Net sales increased 14% to $213.39 billion from the year-earlier quarter, with product sales coming in at $89.99 billion versus $82.23 billion in the period a year ago, the company reported.
Operating income increased to $24.98 billion versus $21.2 billion in the year-prior quarter.
North America segment sales increased 10% year-over-year to $127.08 billion. North America’s operating income was $11.47 billion compared with $9.26 billion in the 2024 quarter.
For the full year, net income increased to $77.67 billion, or $7.17 per diluted share, versus $59.25 billion, or $5.53 per diluted share, in the year before.
Net sales increased 12% to $716.92 billion from the year earlier, with product sales at $296.27 billion, up from $272.31 billion in the prior year, the company stated.
Operating income increased to $79.98 billion in 2025 versus $68.59 billion in the year prior.
North America segment sales increased 10% year-over-year to $426.31 billion. North America’s operating income was $29.62 billion compared with $24.97 billion in 2024.
Amazon pointed to highlights from fourth quarter operations, including:
- Made Rufus, the Amazon agentic AI shopping assistant, smarter, more capable and more helpful. Rufus can shop tens of millions of items in other online stores directly and make purchases on behalf of customers using its Buy For Me feature.
- Experienced strong adoption of Lens, an AI tool that helps customers find products with a phone camera, screenshot or barcode.
- Increased selection on Amazon Haul in the U.S. to 1 million-plus items under $10, with many under $5.
- Announced that it made Alexa+ available to all customers in the U.S. at $19.99 per month as a standalone subscription and free for Prime members.
In addition, Amazon issued guidance for the fiscal 2026 first quarter, including net sales of $173.5 billion to $178.5 billion and operating income of $16.5 billion to $21.5 billion.
Andy Jassy, Amazon’s president and CEO, said the company would continue to invest in the retail business and cited growth in luxury brands and everyday household necessities as examples of product categories where the company has been making gains. He said everyday essentials operations help generate purchasing in other product categories. Jassy added that improvements in delivery speed, which Amazon continues to push, support growth in the retail business.
Jassy also said the company would remain aggressive on pricing and cited a Profitero study that ranked Amazon the lowest-priced retailer for the ninth consecutive year.
Jassy maintained that agentic AI continues to evolve and, even though Amazon has made deals with third-party platforms, such as ChatGPT, the company is continually upgrading its Rufus agent, which drives high purchase completion rates and becomes more capable over time. Jassy indicated that, ultimately, despite alliances with third parties, he believes customers will prefer retailers’ AI agents for shopping.
In discussing the company’s decision to emphasize Whole Foods and delivery in the edibles and everyday essentials business, he said the focus on sharp pricing would prevail in food and necessities as Amazon grows that business, which is focused on affordability and ease of shopping.
The company also said Amazon, as it advances the business, would continue to blow out the product selection as available on its site.
“We continue to expand selection, including more than 400 new beauty brands in the U.S. in 2025, like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Charlotte Tilbury and Laura Mercier, and new fashion brands like Away Luggage, Converse, Diesel, Michael Kors, Nike and The North Face. Our ultra-low-priced offering, Amazon Haul, grew its selection to over a million items under $10 and expanded to serve customers in more than 25 countries and regions. We continue to see strong customer response to everyday essentials and grocery. In 2025, everyday essentials grew nearly twice as fast as all other categories in the U.S., representing one out of three units sold in our store. And we’ve become a go-to grocery destination for over 150 million Americans, mostly through online shopping at Whole Foods,” Jassy said.
