Amazon has 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 percent in extended trading on Thursday.
The world's biggest online retailer said net income rose to US$724 million, or US$1.48 per share, from US$513 million, or US$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 US$1.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company's total net sales rose 22.6 percent to US$35.71 billion in the quarter ended 31 March, compared with the average analyst estimate of US$35.30 billion.
Revenue from Amazon Web Services, the company's fast-growing cloud services business, rose 42.7 percent to US$3.66 billion, matching the average analyst estimate, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
Amazon's net sales in North America, its biggest market, jumped 23.5 percent to US$20.99 billion in the latest quarter.
Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said: "Our India team is moving fast and delivering for customers and sellers. The team has increased Prime selection by 75 percent since launching the program nine months ago, increased fulfilment capacity for sellers by 26 percent already this year, announced 18 Indian Original TV series, and just last week introduced a Fire TV Stick optimized for Indian customers with integrated voice search in English and Hindi.
"We're grateful that customers are responding - Amazon.in is the most visited and the fastest growing marketplace in
The company said a stronger dollar impacted its overall sales by US$492 million and that the quarter faced tough comparison with the year-ago quarter, when the 29 February leap day gave shoppers an extra 24 hours to spend.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
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