Amazon announced sales of $18.5 billion in the first quarter (local time). It is up 44% from the same period last year, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
Its net profit more than tripled to 8.1 billion dollars during the same period. Earnings per share (EPS) were $15.79. This far exceeded Wall Street average performance forecast of $14.5 billion in sales and $9.54 in earnings per share, compiled by financial information company Refinitiv.
Amazon Web Services having the largest portion in sales
The WSJ said Amazon made record quarterly profits as demand for goods delivery services, cloud computing and advertising remained strong.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s largest revenue source, posted $13.5 billion in sales in the first quarter, up 32% from a year earlier. This is a result of competitors such as Microsoft and Google aggressively seeking customers.
Sales in other business sectors, including Amazon’s new revenue source advertising business, also rose 77% to $6.9 billion.
Amazon Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Olsavsky said on the 1st that the company is focusing on building delivery services, hiring employees and expanding warehouses, adding, “As the economy begins to recover, there is a lot of demand for new employees.”
Amazon has risen to a higher level in sales and profits after suffering from the novel coronavirus infection (Covid-19). This is because people who stayed at home due to the blockade law flocked to online shopping.
The company’s share price rose 76% last year.
Amazon also presented its second-quarter sales forecast (guidance) of 110 billion to 116 billion dollars. This further signals for a rise to the “100 billion dollars in sales” level for the third consecutive quarter.
In addition, “Prime Day,” a large-scale discount event for membership members, will be held in June this year. Prime Day was usually held in July.
The WSJ pointed out that Apple, Facebook, Google (Alphabet), and Microsoft, which released their first-quarter report cards before Amazon, showed how strong the Covid-19 incident has made IT companies.
Sales of these IT ‘Big Five’ increased by 20% to $1.1 trillion last year. The total market capitalization of the five companies was nearly $8 trillion as of the end of last year, the WSJ reported. At the end of 2019, it was about $5 trillion.
Read also: Pandemic Heats Up the Rivalry Between Walmart and Amazon
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