Amazon shares surged in after-hours trading Thursday after the tech giant posted its first $200 billion quarter and beat Wall Street expectations with its financial results.
Growth in advertising and AWS keyed the performance, which boosted shares 9%. Revenue at AWS surged 37%, the biggest quarterly increase in more than four years.
Overall earnings per share came in at $5.75, more than triple Wall Street analysts’ consensus forecast, with revenue of $200.6 billion also topping estimates.
Coming in the wake of a bruising session for rival Meta Platforms, whose stock was punished after the company said it would increase its already lavish spending on AI, the quarterly report drew sighs of relief. Many investors have been fretting about questionable returns on the trillion-dollar buildout of AI capacity. By contrast, Amazon delivered red meat to the Street, signaling both its microchips business and the AI operation at AWS had reached $25 billion annual run rates, establishing in the eyes of many their long-term viability.
Advertising, which has been a major focus at Prime Video over the past several years, notched its best growth in years, rising 26% over the prior-year period to hit $19.8 billion
“There’s a lot to be excited about, and we have much more coming for customers in the second half of the year and beyond,” CEO Andy Jassy said in the earnings release.
MORE to come …
