Amazon reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its first quarter, with net income reaching $17.13 billion and sales exceeding $155 billion. However, the company provided soft guidance for the current period, citing uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The company anticipates operating income of between $13 billion and $17.5 billion, which is below the consensus forecast. Amazon attributed this to “tariffs and trade policies” as well as “recessionary fears.” The impact of these factors was not detailed in its forward-looking guidance.
Amazon’s third-party marketplace, which accounts for more than half the company’s total sales, faces significant exposure to Trump’s tariffs, primarily through imports from China. Some sellers have already raised prices and cut back on advertising spend as a result of higher import costs.
Despite this uncertainty, Amazon expects to see growth in its cloud division and online ad sales, with revenue growing 17% year over year in the quarter. The company also pointed out that its ability to offer low prices could help it emerge from the uncertain tariff environment stronger than before.
Amazon’s CEO Jassy acknowledged the difficulty in predicting the impact of tariffs on the company’s businesses, saying “it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen with tariffs right now.”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/01/amazon-amzn-q1-earnings-report-2025.html