Amazon first-quarter sales forecast misses estimates

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday forecast first-quarter sales below Wall Street estimates, as it faces new regulatory hurdles in India and a slowdown in e-commerce sales in Europe. The company forecast net sales of between $56 billion and $60 billion for the first quarter, missing the analyst average estimate of $60.77 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net sales for the fourth quarter rose 19.7 percent to $72.38 billion, beating the analyst average estimate of $71.87 billion. Amazon's net income rose to $3.03 billion, or $6.04 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from $1.86 billion, or $3.75 per share, a year earlier, which included a tax gain. (Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)