5 Things Amazon.com, Inc. Management Wants You to Know

Last Thursday, Amazon.com reported that it returned to profitability in Q4, buoyed by holiday season demand. Revenue rose 15% year-over-year to $29.33 billion and EPS totaled $0.45, down slightly from $0.51 in Q4 2013.

Following the earnings announcement, Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak and designated successor Brian Olsavsky talked to Wall Street analysts about the company's results and the outlook for 2015. Here are five key points investors should know from their discussion.

The strong dollar is hurting

The strong dollar is depressing Amazon.com's international revenue. Photo: The Motley Fool

Amazon.com gets the majority of its sales from the U.S., and domestic revenue has been growing faster than international revenue lately. However, Amazon's international business is still a significant portion of the company total: 36% as of last quarter.

As a result, the strengthening dollar will have a noticeable impact on Amazon's revenue growth. As the dollar appreciates, the dollar value of international sales will fall. This headwind is on pace to reach 460 basis points in Q1. That reduces the midpoint of the company's guidance range for revenue growth by about 30% (from 15.6% to 11%).

But Prime is driving growth

Amazon Prime membership has been growing, thanks in part to the popularity of Prime Instant Video. Photo: The Motley Fool

On the other hand, Amazon.com is benefiting from growing customer interest in the Prime membership program. While Prime benefits differ by country, in the U.S. the program includes free 2-day shipping on a wide variety of items, access to video and music streaming content, and free e-book rentals for Kindle owners.

Amazon announced that Prime membership increased 53% last year on a base of tens of millions of customers. Even in the U.S., where Prime has been around for almost 10 years, the member base grew 50% year-over-year.

This was particularly impressive because Amazon raised the membership price in early 2014. The growing base of Prime members is helping Amazon to produce solid revenue growth -- especially in the U.S. -- even as the company runs up against the law of large numbers.

Video games holding back media revenue growth

Amazon's 15% revenue growth last quarter represented its slowest growth rate since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009. The media category experienced the most dramatic reduction in growth. In fact, media sales declined year-over-year, even after adjusting for currency fluctuations.

However, Amazon.com CFO Tom Szkutak pointed out that Amazon classifies video game consoles in the media segment. Game console sales soared in late 2013 due to the launch of new models. The new console introductions also boosted sales of video games. This created tough revenue comparisons for Q4 2014 in the media segment.

Mix is shifting to third-party sales

In recent years, Amazon has ramped up its efforts to attract third party-sellers to its platform. This has a number of benefits. Amazon earns a higher profit margin on third-party sales than on its direct sales. Bringing in third-party sellers also allows Amazon to increase its selection without adding inventory.

Last quarter, 43% of the items sold on Amazon.com came from third-party sellers, up from 39% a year earlier. This is another reason why revenue growth is slowing -- for third-party sales, Amazon only counts the commission it earns in its revenue (not the full sale price).

Still investing heavily in growth

Amazon.com's profitability has plummeted in the past few years as the company has invested billions of dollars in growth initiatives. In fact, the company posted a full-year loss for 2014.

While Amazon's management has talked about being selective about these growth investments, it will still pour plenty of money into growth projects. Amazon's cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services, will continue to require significant CapEx for the foreseeable future. Amazon also plans to keep adding distribution centers to keep up with rising sales while reducing shipping times and costs.

The bottom line from Amazon.com's earnings call was that the company is continuing to focus on growth more than margin expansion in the near term. If Amazon stock's 14% surge on Friday is any indication, that's just fine with investors.

The article 5 Things Amazon.com, Inc. Management Wants You to Know originally appeared on Fool.com.

Adam Levine-Weinberg has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.