[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, is expected to surpass Walmart, the U.S.'s largest retailer, to become the first company ever to top quarterly revenue, according to a report by CNBC on Thursday (local time).


Amazon is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter (October-December) results after the New York Stock Exchange closes, with Wall Street analysts predicting revenue to reach $187 billion.


This would surpass the estimated $180 billion in revenue that Walmart, the "retail giant," is expected to report for the previous quarter (November 2024–January 2025) when it announces results on the 20th.


This will mark the first time Amazon exceeds Walmart’s quarterly revenue in the retail and e-commerce sectors.


Walmart, which is the largest revenue-generating company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, typically boasts quarterly revenues of around $150 billion, or over $600 billion annually. Walmart has held the top spot in terms of revenue for 12 years, since surpassing the oil giant ExxonMobil in 2012.


In the previous quarter (August–October 2024), Walmart recorded $169.6 billion in revenue, surpassing Amazon’s third-quarter revenue of $158.88 billion by $10 billion.


It is rare for companies to achieve quarterly revenues exceeding $100 billion.


Apple, the world’s largest company by market cap, only reaches $100 billion in revenue during the quarter when new iPhones are launched (October–December).


While Amazon is expected to top quarterly revenue, Walmart is still expected to lead in annual revenue.


Walmart's projected revenue for fiscal year 2025 is estimated to reach $681 billion, while Amazon's projected annual revenue for 2024 is around $638 billion, marking its first time surpassing the $600 billion mark.


The significant growth in Amazon’s revenue is largely attributed to the expansion of its cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS revenue has more than doubled since 2020, growing to account for approximately 17% of Amazon’s total revenue.


Additionally, the surge in online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a more than 100% increase in Amazon's North American annual revenue compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.


Amazon’s market capitalization has already been surpassing Walmart's since 2015, with Amazon’s market cap standing at $2.5 trillion as of the 5th, more than three times the size of Walmart’s $820 billion market cap.

 

 

 

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