E-commerce player Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN quarterly revenue surpassed retail giant Walmart Inc.'s WMT sales in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2000. Jeff Bezos said in 2018 that every overnight success takes at least 10 years, but this particular milestone took 25 years.
What Happened: Both Amazon and Walmart reported strong fourth-quarter results, exceeding analyst expectations. Amazon’s net sales reached $187.8 billion with $1.86 EPS, while Walmart’s sales hit $180.55 billion with $0.66 adjusted EPS, both demonstrating growth and outperforming consensus estimates.
Charlie Bilello, the chief market strategist at Creative Planning highlighted in an X post how Amazon's revenue has gradually grown over the years.
From making 77 times lower in quarterly sales as compared to the retail giant Walmart in the year 2000 to exceeding the former in terms of revenue earned in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Amazon has had a long journey.
Why It Matters: “All overnight success takes about 10 years,” Bezos said in a 2018 CNBC interview.
Bezos attributed Amazon’s success to a long-term, forward-thinking approach, recognizing that current results reflect decisions made in the years prior. According to him, prioritizing innovation and calculated risks over short-term profits, led to services like Prime and AWS.
Despite early financial losses, Bezos’ commitment to “high-quality failures” and continuous experimentation paved the way for Amazon’s current dominance across multiple sectors.
According to the in-depth fundamental analysis by Benzinga Insights, Amazon.com exhibits higher valuations than its broadline retail industry peers.
- Its price-to-earnings was at 39.16, 1.6x above the industry norm, price-to-book was at 8.03 relative to the industry average by 1.32x, and price-to-sales of 3.64 was 2.09x the industry average.
- Higher P/E, P/B, and P/S ratios significantly exceed industry averages, though its ROE is slightly above average, indicating efficient equity use.
- On the other hand, its EBITDA, gross profit, and revenue growth suggest strong financial performance and growth potential relative to industry competitors.
Price Action: Amazon fell 0.24% in premarket on Tuesday, contrasting with a 0.28% fall in the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index.
AMZN remains lower by 3.41% on a year-to-date basis and 1.74% over a year.
Benzinga tracks 43 analysts with an average price target of $264.05 for the stock, reflecting a “buy” rating. Estimates range widely from $207 to $306. Recent ratings from Loop Capital, Citigroup, and Maxim Group average $279.33, suggesting a potential 32.07% upside.
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