Amazon’s Holiday Quarter Doesn’t Match High Expectations - The New York Times

Expect different; also see Amazon Forecast Sparks Investor Concern on Big Spending (Bloomberg), a headline that could be recycled after every Amazon earnings announcement

"For the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, Amazon said its net income was $749 million, or $1.54 a share, up from $482 million, or $1 a share, during the same period a year earlier. The company’s revenue rose to $43.7 billion from $35.7 billion a year earlier.

Amazon’s profit soared in the quarter in part because of the growth of Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing business, which runs many technology functions for customers through Amazon’s data centers. Web Services revenue jumped 47 percent to $3.54 billion, while operating income increased almost 60 percent to $926 million.

The company’s earnings were well ahead of the average earnings estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters of $1.35 a share. Revenue was a different story, falling short of the $44.68 billion average revenue estimate of analysts."

Amazon’s Holiday Quarter Doesn’t Match High Expectations - The New York Times