Amazon has surpassed a major competitor in total revenue, marking a significant milestone a decade after its market cap first overtook the competitors in 2015. At that time, Amazon’s revenue was just one-fifth of its competitors, but its diverse business portfolio has fueled its rapid expansion. While retail remains Amazon’s largest segment, cloud computing is growing even faster, with sales up 19% last quarter.
Online sales, excluding Whole Foods and third-party services, rose 7% to $75.6 billion. Since 2015, Amazon’s stock has delivered a remarkable performance with a gain of over 1,100%, compared to the competitor’s approximately 250% gain. Truist Securities maintains a bullish outlook on Amazon’s long-term potential, citing its strengths in e-commerce, cloud services, advertising, and logistics.
Analyst Youssef Squali, despite slightly trimming the price target from $270 to $265, still sees Amazon as undervalued and calls it a compelling investment opportunity. The milestone reflects Amazon’s ability to innovate and expand into new business areas, maintaining strong growth momentum across its diverse segments. According to analysts surveyed by LSEG, Amazon is poised to surpass Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time.
Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion for its latest quarter on Thursday, while Walmart is projected to post $180 billion when it announces its results on February 20. Historically, Walmart has led in quarterly revenue for the past twelve years. Despite Amazon’s dominance in market capitalization, this will be a significant milestone where Amazon’s revenue surpasses Walmart’s in a single quarter.
Walmart continues to lead in annual sales, having generated over $600 billion in each of the past two years. For the latest fiscal year, Walmart’s annual revenue is expected to approach $681 billion. Amazon is rapidly catching up, with estimated full-year revenue for 2024 projected to be around $638 billion, marking the first time the company surpasses the $600 billion mark.
A significant driver of Amazon’s growth is its cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which now accounts for about 17% of Amazon’s total sales. The COVID-19 pandemic has also substantially shifted consumer behavior towards online shopping, boosting Amazon’s North American sales by more than 100% since 2019.
Amazon surpasses Walmart in quarterly revenue
Reaching $100 billion in quarterly revenue is rare. In addition to Walmart and Amazon, Apple has achieved this milestone, primarily during its holiday quarter. Few companies even approach this figure, with CVS and McKesson being close contenders.
As these retail giants continue to compete, these revenue milestones underscore the dynamic shifts in consumer behavior and the growing influence of technology in the retail sector. Analysts have been crunching the numbers, and if they are right, Amazon took in about $187 billion in quarterly sales during the period that includes Christmas. This means Amazon likely outsold Walmart quarterly for the first time ever.
According to records kept by LSEG, Walmart has had the most significant quarterly sales of any company for every quarter since 2012. Amazon’s $187 billion sales number puts It in a rarified club of companies with quarterly revenues above $100 billion. The momentum is clearly with Amazon.
As it fine-tunes operations, the company is taking a bigger share of retail dollars. Amazon Prime has become a force to reckon with, with 200 million members and counting. For a fee of $139 a year, Prime members can enjoy swift shipping options, which keeps them clicking the “complete order” button.
Amazon says Prime members, on average, make two orders every week. Some experts say that nearly 60 percent of all online shopping is done on Amazon. Walmart, however, isn’t rolling over.
It has launched a monthly membership program called Walmart+, and vows to keep up the competition where it matters most: convenience and value. While Amazon might be on track to topple Walmart as the biggest revenue generator for the fourth quarter, Walmart is still likely to be the biggest revenue generator for all of 2024.
