Give Amazon this much–-they know how to cushion a blow.
The tech titan’s fourth-quarter results and accompanying forecast on Thursday weren’t great on the surface—at least for those worried about the massive company’s ability to continue growing at a supercharged rate.
Fourth-quarter revenue grew 9% year over year to $137.4 billion—barely in line with Wall Street’s forecasts. The company also projected growth of 3% to 8% year over year for the first quarter, below the 11% expected by analysts.
Taken together, the two quarters would represent Amazon’s weakest period of growth since mid 2001, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Online stores—the company’s largest operating segment—saw revenue fall for the first time since it began reporting results for that unit in 2016.
