Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shareholders had a fantastic 2023 as their stock gained 80% on the year, easily beating the 24% rally in the S 500 and the 43% spike in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index. That performance wasn't quite good enough to put the e-commerce giant's shares back into record territory, although it did push its valuation back above $1.5 trillion. Amazon stock remains below the all-time highs of over $180 per share that were set when the market was soaring in late 2021.

The 2023 rally was powered by several encouraging trends that imply much higher annual earnings ahead for this massive business.

Amazon posted accelerating sales trends throughout the year, giving investors one big reason to like the stock. Sales were up 13% in the most recent quarter compared to an 11% increase in fiscal Q2 and a 9% uptick in Q1. Wall Street loves to see speeding revenue gains, especially in a business that books over $500 billion of sales each year.

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Source Fool.com