Amazon Sales Top Estimates on Prime Day Event, Cloud-Computing
- E-commerce giant returns surprise profit on tighter spending
- Web services unit revenue gains 78 percent, beating estimates
Amazon's Secret Sauce: AWS Pulls in $2.09B in 3rd Quarter
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Amazon.com Inc.’s stock soared after third-quarter sales topped analysts’ estimates thanks to the company’s fast-growing cloud-computing division, a boost from its July Prime Day promotion and a watchful eye on spending.
A surprise profit of $79 million, or 17 cents a share, spurred shares as much as 13 percent higher in extended trading on Thursday, catapulting Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos into the spot as the third-richest person in America. The earnings compared with a loss of $437 million, or 95 cents, a year earlier, signaling an abrupt change from the tumble Amazon took after poor sales of its Fire smartphone.