New York, Feb 6 (AP) Amazon sales surged 14 per cent during the fourth quarter, helped by strong holiday spending and a better-than-expected growth in its prominent cloud computing unit.

But shares fell 11 per cent in after hours trading on Thursday as investors appeared to be spooked by the Seattle-based tech company's plans to increase capital spending by nearly 60 per cent to USD 200 billion from last year's USD 128 billion as it sees opportunities in artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors and satellites. The company's fourth-quarter profits also were slightly below analysts' projections.

Wall Street analysts were expecting capital spending to rise to around USD 147 billion this year, according to FactSet.

Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy told investors on the call following the earnings release that it anticipates strong long-term return on the invested capital.

"We are continuing to see as fast as we install this capacity, this AI capacity, we are monetising it," Jassy said. "So it's just a very unusual opportunity. I passionately believe that every customer experience that we know of today is going to be reinvented." The results come as Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the e-commerce company in three months. Amazon said in an e-mailed statement last week that AI was "not the reason behind the vast majority of these reductions." Rather, the cuts had more to do with eliminating layers to drive speed.

Separately, Amazon said last week it would cut about 5,000 retail workers, according to notices it sent to state workforce agencies in California, Maryland and Washington, resulting from its decision to close almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores.

That is on top of a round of 14,000 job cuts in October, bringing the total to well over 30,000 since Amazon's Jassy first signalled a push for AI-driven organisational changes.

Analysts are analysing retailers' performances for insight into how shoppers spent during the holidays and what is in store for 2026.

Amazon is also under pressure to shore up confidence that its computing arm Amazon Web Services is just as powerful as Microsoft's Azure and Google's Google Cloud platform.

Amazon delivered 24 per cent growth for AWS in the fourth quarter, the fastest in 13 quarters, the company said. That followed a 20 per cent growth in the third quarter and a 17.5 per cent increase in the second quarter. In comparison, Google parent Alphabet said on Wednesday that its cloud business registered a 48 per cent increase, or nearly USD 18 billion in revenue.

Meta, Apple and other Big Tech firms are expected to ramp up their spending on artificial intelligence this year. After investing USD 91 billion into capital expenditures devoted mostly to AI, Alphabet said on Wednesday that it expects to double down by spending another USD 175 billion to USD 185 billion this year.

Amazon also continues to invest in its speedy fulfilment network, through a combination of robotics, AI technology and more efficient warehousing.

Amazon's new service called Amazon Now, an ultra-fast delivery that offers delivery on thousands of items in 30 minutes or less, is now available in various cities in India, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates and is being tested in several communities in the US and the United Kingdom, the company said.

Amazon is also expanding its same-day grocery delivery to more than 2,300 cities and towns across the US.

Jassy told investors it continues to see strong customer response to everyday essentials and groceries in 2025.

Meanwhile, Amazon is closing almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations as it narrows its focus on food delivery and its grocery chain, Whole Foods Market.

Some of the shuttered stores will be converted into Whole Foods locations, the company said in a blog post last week.

Amazon reported net income of USD 21.2 billion, or USD 1.95 per share, for the three-month period ended December 31. That compares with USD 20 billion, or USD 1.86 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose to USD 213.4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with USD 187.8 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts were expecting USD 1.97 per share on sales of USD 211.4 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue from Amazon Web Services reached USD 35.6 billion. Analysts were expecting USD 34.9 billion.

Product sales during the holiday period rose 9.4 per cent, the company said.

The company said that it expects sales to be between USD 173.5 billion and USD 178.5 billion for current quarter.

Analysts are projecting USD 175.6 billion. (AP) RUK RUK