Amazon smashes earnings expectations with 44% sales increase

Amazon shares climbed over 3.5 percent on Thursday after revealing that its first-quarter earnings soared 44 percent on-year to $108.5 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations for earnings and revenue.

Based on Amazon’s guidance for the second quarter, it expects the momentum to continue and expects to post revenue between $110 billion and $116 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s projection of $108.6 billion.

It should help allay investor fears that business could slow in a post-pandemic environment.

Amazon Web Services posted net sales of $13.5 billion during the quarter, up 32 percent on-year.

Its advertising sales are included in the company’s “Other” category, which grew 77 percent on-year to $6.9 billion.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also revealed that over 175 million Prime members streamed shows and movies in the past year, with streaming hours increasing over 70 percent on-year. Amazon Prime now has 200 million subscribers.

However, sales from its physical stores, which includes Whole Foods Market and Amazon Books, slumped 16 percent to $3.9 billion. The category excludes online delivery, Olsavsky said.

International revenue surged 60 percent on-year, more than any other segment, while those from North America climbed 40 percent.