A River of Profits

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) has seen its stock soar more than 2,000 percent over the past decade and more than 60 percent over the past year. From its thriving e-commerce business to its ridiculously profitable Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud-computing segment, along with its acquisitions of Whole Foods Market and video-doorbell leader Ring, Amazon is truly firing on all cylinders. (Last year, AWS contributed 10 percent of Amazon’s revenue — and some believe the business could triple over the next five years.)

Amazon’s revenue last quarter skyrocketed 39 percent year over year (on a constant-currency basis) to a staggering $51 billion, with operating income jumping 92 percent. Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has confirmed that the Amazon Prime service sports more than 100 million members. Those members not only enjoy the fast, free shipping on millions of items for which Prime is best known, but also have access to Prime Music, Prime Instant Video, discounts at Whole Foods and other little-known benefits. In fact, Amazon recently used those benefits to justify increasing the price of Prime by $20, to $119 per year, marking its first price hike in four years.

With significant and accelerating growth drivers, Amazon.com is well worth considering as a long-term investment. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and has recommended Amazon.com. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.)