Amazon faces margin questions despite expected Q1 revenue beat

Bank of America expects Amazon (AMZN.OQ) to report modest upside in Q1 results on April 29, driven by strength in retail and a robust AWS, where cloud revenue is forecast to grow about 28% year‑on‑year versus ~25% market expectations. Analysts project Q1 revenue of ~$178.4bn and operating income of $21.4bn, slightly above consensus. Anthropic‑related AI workloads are estimated to contribute roughly $1.3bn to AWS quarterly revenue. Retail trends and card spending point to North American retail revenue 1–2% above consensus. Offsetting positives, expanding lower‑margin AI infrastructure, logistics/international investment and fulfillment pricing could pressure margins and keep guidance scrutiny high; Bank of America models Q2 revenue of $185–190bn and operating income $17.5–21.5bn. Shares are up ~9% YTD, and investors will watch margin outlook and capex for cloud/AI capacity.