Amazon powers up profits as footprint grows

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon delivered better- than- expected profits, helping the online colossus shake off the stock market gloom produced by tech rival Facebook.

Net profit for Amazon in the past quarter jumped 12-fold to US$2.5 billion, far ahead of expectations, as the online giant saw gains across its range of businesses as it expands operations globally.

Revenue rose 39 per cent to US$ 52.9 billion, shy of most forecasts, but shares in Amazon nonetheless lifted 4.1 per cent in after-hours trade.

Amazon has grown into one of the world’s biggest companies on its global e-commerce operations along with cloud computing, artificial intelligence, streaming video, groceries and other operations.

Chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos, whose Amazon stake has made him the world’s richest person, used the quarterly update to highlight Alexa, the digital assistant that powers Amazon electronics along with cars, appliances and other connected devices.

“We want customers to be able to use Alexa wherever they are,” said Bezos.

“There are now tens of thousands of developers across more than 150 countries building new devices using the Alexa Voice Service, and the number of Alexa-enabled devices has more than tripled in the past year.”

Amazon built a reputation for making little or no profit in its early years, but has recently ramped up profitability.

The profit in the past quarter compared with net income of US$197 million in the same period last year.

The company said it expects sales to grow between 23 and 31 per cent in the current quarter.

“Despite its enormous size and previous run of strong growth, Amazon has had no problem in delivering another good set of numbers,” said Neil Saunders of the research firm GlobalData. — AFP