Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, Feb. 26, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Amazon is slated to announce its first-quarter earnings after the market close on Thursday.
Here’s what analysts are looking for:
Earnings per share: $1.36 expected, according to LSEG
Revenue: $155.04 billion expected, according to LSEG
Wall Street is also looking at other key revenue numbers:
Amazon Web Services: $29.42 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
Advertising: $13.74 billion expected, according to StreetAccount
The topic of tariffs will hover over Amazon’s earnings report. Several of the company’s businesses are exposed to President Donald Trump‘s new tariffs, especially its core retail unit. Investors will want to know whether Trump’s 145% levy on China could impact Amazon’s margins, and whether uncertainty around the tariffs has caused shoppers to be more cautious with their spending.
“This was never approved and is not going to happen,” Amazon said in a blog post on Tuesday.
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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC last month the company is working to keep prices low for consumers, including by making strategic forward inventory buys on products overseas. But he acknowledged some third-party sellers will “need to pass that cost” of tariffs to consumers.
Analysts believe Trump’s tariffs could provide a boost to Amazon’s retail business, at least in the short term, as some shoppers have stocked up on items in anticipation of price hikes.
Retail sales rose 1.4% in March, after rising 0.2% in February, according to Commerce Department data, indicating there may have been a pull forward in spending.
Investors will be keeping a close eye on Amazon’s guidance for the current quarter. Some analysts have suggested the impact of Trump’s tariffs may not show up until then, or potentially the third quarter.
“A meaningful portion of products sold on the eCommerce platform (apparel, furniture, toys, accessories, consumer electronics, etc.) come from China, which may impact forward guidance,” Canaccord analysts wrote in a note to clients this week. “That said, we think Amazon’s vast product selection and structural advantages in price and logistics should enable it to mitigate some of the impact.”
Amazon could also potentially benefit from Trump’s executive order to end the de minimis trade exemption, which is set to take effect on Friday. Discount Chinese retailers Temu and Shein have relied heavily on the loophole, which allows shipments under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free, as a way to keep their prices low.
Both companies began raising prices last week, while Temu added “import charges” between 130% and 150% to some of its products. The prices of many of their products are more aligned with competitors like Amazon, but could still take more than a week to arrive.
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Amazon year to date stock performance
Outside of retail, Amazon’s cloud computing business and investments in AI will also be in focus. It’s been a mixed bag for Amazon’s cloud peers so far. Microsoftreported strong cloud growth in its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, while Alphabet‘s cloud revenue fell just short of estimates last week.
For the quarter, analysts are projecting AWS revenue of $29.4 billion, according to StreetAccount. That would represent growth of 17.6%, compared to 18.9% growth in the fourth quarter.
Amazon last quarter pledged to boost capital expenditures to $100 billion this year, with the “vast majority” going toward AI services. The company has been rushing to roll out AI products across its businesses. In March, Amazon released a new AI agent for web browsers, and it began testing new AI assistants for its shopping and health platforms.
Amazon’s stock is down more than 13%year to date, while the Nasdaq has fallen less than a percent over the same stretch.
Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, takes the stage during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, Dec. 4, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares in the company over the next year, according to a financial filing on Friday.
Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains Amazon’s top shareholder, is selling the shares as part of a trading plan adopted on March 4, the filing states. The stake would be worth about $4.8 billion at the current price.
The disclosure follows Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report late Thursday. While profit and revenue topped estimates, the company’s forecast for operating income in the current quarter came in below Wall Street’s expectations.
The results show that Amazon is bracing for uncertainty related to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs. The company landed in the crosshairs of the White House this week over a report that Amazon planned to show shoppers the cost of the tariffs. Trump personally called Bezos to complain, and Amazon clarified that no such change was coming.
Bezos previously offloaded about $13.5 billion worth of Amazon shares last year, marking his first sale of company stock since 2021.
Since handing over the Amazon CEO role to Andy Jassy, Bezos has spent more of his time on his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and his $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund. He’s used Amazon share sales to help fund Blue Origin, as well as the Day One Fund, which he launched in September 2018 to provide education in low-income communities and combat homelessness.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
Shawn Thew | Afp | Getty Images
A tale of two different technology companies is playing out this earnings season as President Donald Trump‘s global trade upheaval makes planning nearly impossible.
Businesses reliant on advertising appear to be holding on for the near-term as those dependent on consumer spending have started to feel the cracks of a murky macro subjected to an ever-shifting tariff policy.
Block offered a lackluster second-quarter profit outlook in its earnings release Thursday, and said it took into account a “more cautious stance” into the end of the year. Airbnb issued disappointing guidance and said its business experienced some “softness” in travel from Canada to the U.S. toward the end of the quarter.
“In the U.S., we’ve seen relatively softer results, which we believe has been largely driven by broader economic uncertainties,” the vacation rentals company said in a letter to shareholders.
The fortress technology giants are also proving susceptible to Trump’s whims.
AppleCEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the company anticipates $900 million in added costs from tariffs this quarter, but said it’s “very difficult” to predict beyond that timeframe due to uncertainty.
He also said Apple is sourcing products shipped to the U.S. from India and Vietnam — where tariffs are lower.
“We do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin,” he said. “Vietnam will be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods products sold in the U.S.”
Amazon‘s e-commerce business, which relies on many sellers that ship from China, is also beginning to feel the pressure. The company issued light guidance for the current quarter, and said “tariffs and trade policies” and “recessionary fears” were factors in its outlook.
Trump recently hiked the import duty on goods from China to 145%. Amazon is also grappling with the expiration of the de minimis loophole that previously allowed imports under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free.
Finance chief Brian Olsavsky said the company offered a wide guidance range due to tariff unpredictability.
But Amazon’s advertising business was a silver lining in the report, jumping 19% from last year. Other ad-heavy businesses also reported strong results in this macroeconomic setup, but warned of possibly tougher waters ahead.
Alphabet reported a year-over-year jump in ad revenue, but warned that the de minimis changes would “cause a slight headwind” to its ad business this year, particularly in Asia. Meta‘s ad revenues topped estimates, but finance chief Susan Li said some Asia e-commerce retailers have curbed ad spending. “
“A portion of that spend has been redirected to other markets, but overall spend for those advertisers is below the levels prior to April,” she said.
Worsening consumer sentiment isn’t just a tech problem. Airlines, restaurants and consumer retailers are also feeling the pinch.
Delta Airlines cut its growth plans for 2025 and trimmed its first-quarter guidance on weakening demand, while Chipotle Mexican Grill blamed a “slowdown consumer spending” as a reason for a decline in same-store sales.
U.S. consumers also appear less optimistic about the economy. Last month, the expectations index from the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey fell to its lowest level since October 2011.
Board officials said the reading is consistent with a recession.
A passenger walks near Uber signage after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, on July 10, 2022.
David Swanson | Reuters
Uber said on Friday that it’s partnering with Chinese self-driving startup Momenta to launch robotaxi services outside of the U.S. and China.
The first deployment is scheduled to roll out in Europe in early 2026, with safety operators onboard. Uber said the goal is to combine its global ridesharing network with Momenta’s technology to deliver safe and efficient robotaxi services.
“This collaboration brings together Uber’s global ridesharing expertise and Momenta’s AI-first autonomous driving technology, paving the way for a future where more riders around the world experience the benefits of reliable and affordable autonomous mobility,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the press release.
Momenta CEO Xudong Cao said the arrangement “completes the key ecosystem needed to scale autonomous driving globally.”
Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
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Momenta, based in Beijing, is a leading autonomous driving company known for its “two-leg” product strategy. It offers both Mpilot, a mass-production-ready assisted driving system, and MSD (Momenta Self-Driving), aimed at full autonomy. The company has years of experience operating autonomous vehicles in cities across China and has partnerships with large equipment manufacturers.
Competition is heating up in the robotaxi market, and Uber is actively seeking deals to sustain a ride-hailing business as robots replace drivers. Uber has partnered with companies including Motional and Waymo in select U.S. cities. Motional hit pause on its robotaxi deployments with both Uber and Lyft last year. This marks Uber’s first major push to deploy AVs abroad in partnership with a Chinese startup.
Uber previously had its own self-driving car unit, but it sold the division in 2020 to Aurora Technologies, an Amazon-backed self-driving car firm. As part of that deal, Uber said it would invest $400 million into Aurora.