The Borneo Post

Amazon delivers record profits on gains in cloud, advertisin­g

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SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon delivered record profits for the first quarter, fuelled by gains in cloud computing and new business segments for the US technology colossus.

Net prof it in the quarter more than doubled from the same period last year to US$ 3.6 billion, extending Amazon’s trend of rising profitabil­ity.

Overall revenues for the company rose 17 per cent to US$ 59.7 billion, according to the update, which topped most analyst forecasts.

Seattle- based Amazon said revenue from onl ine sales was up 10 per cent bi l l ion while money taken in from subscripti­on services and the Amazon Web Services cloud platform leapt some 40 per cent.

The ‘other’ revenue segment, which inc lude s on l ine advertisin­g, grew some 34 per cent from a year ago.

Shares in Amazon – which has expanded from its origins in e- commerce to cloud services, streaming media, artif icial intelligen­ce and brick- andmortar grocery stores – wobbled in after-market trades, dipping brief ly before returning to a modest gain of 0.6 per cent.

Analysts pointed out that Amazon is increasing its digital advertisin­g revenues, a market dominated by tech rivals Google and Facebook.

“Amazon just turned in another powerhouse quarter fuel led by its strength in the cloud and advert ising businesses, which continues to inflate the company’s operating marg ins,” said Andrew Lipsman of the research firm eMarketer.

“While AWS’s momentum continues unabated and is clearly the bigger driver of this profit story at the moment, the advertisin­g flywheel now appears to be in full effect for Amazon and will only be a bigger part of the growth story over the near term.”

Neil Saunders of the research firm GlobalData Retail, said Amazon’s growth in product sales is slowing, a trend to be expected given its massive size and competitio­n from other retailers.

“In our view the trend is only likely to accelerate going forward and it will put Amazon under more compet it ive pressure that it has been before,” Saunders said in a research note.

“In a perverse way this is advantageo­us to Amazon as it puts an end to the lie that the company is somehow a monopoly or that it is immune from competitiv­e forces.”

But Amazon’s diversi f ied busine s s gives it more opportunit­ies to deal with compet it ion, the analyst noted.

It has begun investing more in its recently acquired Whole Foods grocery stores and expanding the home delivery areas for the chain.

“As much as the top- line performanc­e matters, Amazon’s shallower growth is coinciding with a period of improving profits,” Saunders said.

A free two- day shipping benefit offered to Amazon Prime subscriber­s is evolving into a one- day shipping perk that the company expects to boost shopping and membership, executives said on an earnings call.

Amazon figured to spend US$ 800 million this quarter on shortening delivery times to a single day for Prime buyers, with shoppers in North America expected to be the first to benefit.

Amazon’s Prime Video has also been in tough competitio­n on streaming television with Netf lix and new entrants, and its Alexa- powered devices are seeing more rivals from other firms using digital assistants with artificial intelligen­ce.

Amazon executives said the company will continue to invest “meaningful­ly” in original shows and films for its Prime streaming television service.

Col in Sebastian of Baird Equity Research welcomed “a good report given some concerns over online spending headwinds,” and said he sees “no change to our positive longterm thesis” for Amazon.

Sebastian calls for more gains in Amazon shares, ref lecting “our increased conviction in emerging business segments.” — AFP

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