Amazon (AMZN) reported first-quarter financial results that blew past Wall Street forecasts, fueled largely by strong growth in its cloud-computing unit.
The Seattle-based e-commerce company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $2.78 U.S., which topped the $1.64 U.S. consensus view of analysts.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $181.52 billion U.S., which surpassed the $177.30 billion U.S. expected on Wall Street.
Among its various business segments, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud unit, posted $37.59 billion U.S. in revenue versus expectations for $36.64 billion U.S.
AWS sales were up 28% from a year earlier. It was the fastest growth in more than three years.
Advertising revenue of $17.24 billion U.S. was ahead of the $16.87 billion U.S. anticipated among analysts who cover the company.
Amazon said capital spending in the first quarter reached $44.2 billion U.S., which was above Wall Street’s projected $43.6 billion U.S.
The company has said that its capital expenditures this year are likely to reach $200 billion U.S. as it invests heavily in artificial intelligence (A.I.).
In terms of guidance, Amazon said that for the current quarter, it expects sales to come in between $194 billion U.S. and $199 billion U.S.
Analysts had Q2 sales of $188.9 billion U.S. penciled in for the company.
Management at Amazon recently announced plans to layoff 16,000 employees, after cutting 14,000 staff last October.
AMZN stock has risen 40% over the last 12 months to trade at $263.04 U.S. per share.
