Amazon expected to show slowing growth in first-quarter revenue

“Following [Q4’s] dip below 20% top line growth for the first time in more than three years, it appears that sub-20% growth might be the new normal,” analysts at Canaccord Genuity wrote in a note this week.

Here’s what Wall Street is expecting for the quarter:

• EPS: $4.72, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, vs. $3.27 last year

• Revenue: $59.7 billion, according to Refinitiv, vs. $51 billion a year ago

• AWS: $7.7 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet, vs. $5.4 billion last year

Amazon’s operating profit margin, or the amount of money left after subtracting the cost of goods sold and operating expenses, is expected to increase to 5.2% from 3.8% a year ago and 2.8% at the same point in 2017. Net income is expected to increase 43% to $2.3 billion, marking the sixth straight period above $1 billion in profit.

The wider margins come from growth in businesses like cloud, advertising and third-party seller services, where profits are bigger but total sales are smaller. Whole Foods, a slower-growing business, is also now fully integrated into Amazon’s results.

“Looking ahead we expect steady, albeit more moderate growth, with continued margin progress,” the Canaccord Genuity analysts wrote.

Going forward, however, there are threats to Amazon’s profitability as the company invests more heavily in certain areas. Ross Sandler, an analyst at Barclays, wrote in a note earlier this month that the jump in spending will start showing up in the second quarter with increased investments in grocery delivery, international markets and Prime video content.