Amazon.com Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Amazon.com (NAS: AMZN) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Amazon.com beat expectations on revenues and earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly and GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.


Gross margins increased, operating margins contracted, and net margins shrank.

Revenue details
Amazon.com logged revenue of $13.19 billion. The 32 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $12.91 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 34% higher than the prior-year quarter's $9.86 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.28. The 30 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.07 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.28 for Q1 were 36% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.44 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 24.0%, 120 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 1.5%, 180 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.0%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $12.86 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.19.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $62.92 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.24.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 5,214 members out of 6,431 rating the stock outperform, and 1,217 members rating it underperform. Among 1,640 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,403 give Amazon.com a green thumbs-up, and 237 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Amazon.com is outperform, with an average price target of $216.43.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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