Amazon reported strong first-quarter earnings for the 2025 fiscal year on Thursday after the New York stock exchange closed – results that will be seen in the context of consumer resilience in the face of Donald Trump’s tariff wars.
Amazon reported $1.59 in earnings per share (EPS) and revenue of $155.67bn. Analysts had estimated that the company’s EPS would come in at $1.36 on revenue of $155bn. In particular focus: Amazon’s advertising business, which grew 19% in the first quarter of 2025, handily exceeding analyst expectations as well. The company has exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for the previous two quarters.
At the close of the first quarter last year, the company reported earnings of $0.98 per share on sales of $143bn. In spite of the growth, shares dropped in after-hours trading.
Amazon’s earnings report comes as its stock price has dropped 17% this year over fears that consumers will cut back on purchases in response to the US president’s tariffs. A large number of products on Amazon ship from China, which faces a tariff of a whopping 145% imposed by Trump. The company is expected to report its slowest rate of revenue growth for any period since 2022.
Poor consumer sentiment numbers alongside gross domestic product figures reported this week showed the US economy contracting at a 0.3% annualized pace in the first quarter.
“It’s hard to tell with tariffs how they’re going to settle and when they’re going to settle,” said Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, in an earnings call, adding that there “had maybe never been a more important time” to have the broadest possible selection of items at the lowest possible prices.
Jassy said Amazon had done forward buying of inventory and had encouraged third party sellers to do the same. “We may potentially be able to help customers find what they want no matter what the trends are,” he said.
Amazon’s earnings are a backdrop for how the “magnificent seven” tech giants are learning how to deal with the Trump administration and its ongoing trade war with China and other countries. Meta and Microsoft reported strong earnings on Wednesday despite the uncertainty brought on by the tariffs, though their businesses are somewhat more insulated from duties imposed on imports than Amazon.
Analysts at UBS said in a note to clients that at least 50% of items sold on Amazon are subject to Trump’s tariffs and could become more expensive as a result.
“Consumers therefore might have to make more difficult choices on where to allocate their dollars,” UBS analysts said.
Earlier this month, Jassy told CNBC that Amazon had not seen a drop-off in consumer demand and the company was “going to try and do everything we can” to keep prices low for customers. But he acknowledged some third-party sellers would “need to pass that cost” of tariffs on to consumers.
Earlier this week, the company found itself in the White House crosshairs after a report said that the online retail giant was planned to itemize tariff-related increases in pricing. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called the move a “hostile and political act”.
Amazon denied the reports in a statement, saying the plan was “never approved” and displaying tariff costs is “not going to happen”.
Trump reportedly put in a call to Amazon’s co-founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday morning. “Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific,” he later told reporters. “He solved the problem very quickly. Good guy.”
But the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the exchange, asking in a letter if Bezos received any “promises or favors” from Trump in exchange for his “subservience” and said it raised concerns “about the potential for tariff-related corruption”.
