Amazon's Q4 net sales up but forecasts dip in Q1 profit

Amazon.com said in a statement that its net sales increased 22 percent to 43.7 billion dollars in the fourth quarter. Excluding the 558 million dollars favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates, net sales increased 24 percent. However, for the first quarter ahead, Amazon expects operating income to be between 250 million dollars and 900 million dollars, compared with 1.1 billion dollars in first quarter 2016.