Amazon is believed to have passed a huge milestone by beating fellow retail giant Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time. Amazon reported fourth-quarter revenue of $187.8 billion on Thursday, ahead of analysts' expectations, the AP reports. Walmart is expected to announce revenue of $180 billion when it reports on Feb. 20. Walmart has been in the top spot for quarterly revenue since 2012, when it overtook Exxon Mobil, CNBC reports.
Amazon got a big revenue boost from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, but analysts say its cloud computing business was the main force that pushed it ahead of Walmart. "Amazon is similar in revenue with Walmart with regards to its normal online retail business," Albert Williams, an economics professor at Nova Southeastern University, tells Quartz. "But its web-based services now include AI opportunities, the latest major technology being used in business." Amazon said Thursday that its online retail business brought in $ 75.5 billion in revenue, up 7% from the same quarter a year earlier.
CNBC notes that very few companies ever pass $100 billion in revenue for a quarter. Apple has managed to do so multiple times during the fourth quarter thanks to holiday season iPhone sales. For the last quarter of 2024, it reported record revenue of $124.3 billion. UnitedHealth has also passed the mark, with revenue of just over $100 billion in three quarters last year. (More Amazon stories.)
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