By Greg Bensinger, Deborah Mary Sophia (Reuters) -Amazon.com investors drove shares down sharply on Thursday due to weakness in the retailer's cloud computing unit and lower-than-expected forecasts for first-quarter revenue and profit.

Amazon's beat Wall Street's overall expectations with $187.8 billion in net sales, up 10%, and came in well ahead on the bottom line, with earnings of $1.86 per share, vs. expectations of $1.48 for the fourth quarter.

Amazon almost doubled its profits in 2024 compared to the year before, but it missed some analysts expectations in its cloud division and issued a warning for slow sales growth in 2025. The Seattle-based tech giant reported $59.

Amazon.com topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as strong sales over the holiday shopping season boosted its retail business, helping offset weakness in the cloud computing unit.