Amazon’s Earnings Top Estimates, Though Its Forecast Underwhelms [Video]

Amazon (AMZN) reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates, though its outlook underwhelmed, sending shares lower in extended trading Thursday.

The e-commerce and cloud services giant saw net sales rise 10% year-over-year to $187.8 billion, surpassing the analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Earnings came in at $20 billion, or $1.86 per share, up from $10.62 billion, or $1 per share, a year earlier, also above expectations.

The gains came as Amazon said the holiday shopping season proved its “most successful yet.” Online store sales grew 7% to $75.56 billion, above estimates. Meanwhile, revenue from Amazon Web Services increased 19% to $28.79 billion, just shy of projections. 

Looking ahead however, Amazon forecast first-quarter revenue of between $151 billion and $155.5 billion, below the analyst consensus of $158.58 billion.

Amazon said the outlook reflects “an unusually large, unfavorable impact” from foreign exchange rates, to the tune of $2.1 billion.

Much like several of …