Amazon.com reported first-quarter revenue and profit that topped analysts’ estimates, driven by sustained growth in online retail sales and its profitable cloud business, sending its shares up more than 4% in extended trading on Thursday.
The world’s biggest online retailer said net income rose to $724 million, or $1.48 per share, from $513 million, or $1.07 per share, a year earlier. This marks the eighth straight quarter Amazon has posted a net profit.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
The company’s total net sales rose 22.6% to $35.71 billion in the quarter ended March 31, compared with the average analyst estimate of $35.30 billion.
Revenue from Amazon Web Services, the company’s fast-growing cloud services business, rose 42.7% to $3.66 billion, matching the average analyst estimate, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
Amazon’s (AMZN) net sales in North America, its biggest market, jumped 23.5% to $20.99 billion in the latest quarter.
The company said a stronger dollar impacted its overall sales by $492 million and that the quarter faced tough comparison with the year-ago quarter, when the Feb. 29 leap day gave shoppers an extra 24 hours to spend.
