‘Jassy’s the captain now’: Here’s what 4 Wall Street banks had to say about Amazon’s 4th-quarter earnings

‘Jassy’s the captain now’: Here’s what 4 Wall Street banks had to say about Amazon’s 4th-quarter earnings

Amazon's fourth-quarter earnings impressed on Tuesday, matching high analyst expectations.

The company managed a 44% year-over-year revenue jump in the quarter, breaking the $100 billion net sales mark for the first time just days after Apple managed a similar feat.

Revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by $5.82 billion, hitting $125.6 billion. Fourth quarter GAAP earnings per share were also a standout, beating consensus estimates by nearly $6.96 to hit $14.09 per share. Free cash flow also increased to $31 billion for the trailing twelve months period, compared with $25.8 billion from a year ago.

The standout earnings release comes as Amazon continues to benefit from an increased stay-at-home audience due to the pandemic.

However, the biggest news from Tuesday's earnings release wasn't earnings-related at all, but the announcement that Jeff Bezos will be stepping down as CEO. Bezos will transition to a new role as chairman while Amazon Web Service's head Andy Jassy steps into the CEO role.

"Amazon is what it is because of invention. We do crazy things together and then make them normal," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, and former CEO.

"If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn