Amazon doubles profit, hikes Prime

Amazon.com on Thursday said profits more than doubled to $1.6 billion in the first quarter, sending shares of its stock soaring to an all-time high.

The company’s fast-growing advertising and cloud businesses drove much of its growth, and contributed to its second straight quarter of billion-dollar profits. Overall sales rose 43 percent to $51 billion, up from $35.7 billion a year earlier.

Amazon also said it will hike its Prime membership fee 20 percent to $119 a year for new members beginning May 11. Existing members who renew their Prime memberships will have to pay the new rate beginning June 16. The company said this month that it has 100 million Prime members.

“The Prime program continues to drive great strength to our top line,” Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s chief financial officer, said Thursday.

The Prime membership program has been an important cornerstone of Amazon’s flagship retail business. Prime members now receive free two-day shipping on 100 million items, up from 20 million in 2014, Olsavsky said.

Shares of Amazon spiked as much as 7 percent to a record $1,619 in after-hours trading, erasing recent losses following a series of tweets from President Donald Trump that attacked the company. The president also launched a study of whether Amazon is getting too good of a deal from the U.S. Postal Service.

This year, Amazon announced it was teaming up with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase to create its own independent health-care company.