Amazon Stock Up 12% On Strong Results

(RTTNews) - Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) jumped 12 percent in after-hours on Thursday after the online retailer reported a first-quarter profit and revenues that trumped Wall Street estimates.

Seattle, Washington-based Amazon reported first-quarter profit of $513 million or $1.07 per share, compared with a loss of $57 million or $0.12 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Amazon's sales for the quarter jumped 28 percent to $29.13 billion from $22.72 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $27.98 billion for the quarter.

Sales from North America jumped 27 percent to $17.0 billion last year, while international sales rose 24 percent to $9.57 billion. Meanwhile, revenues of Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud service division, surged 64 percent to $2.57 billion.

Total operating expenses for the quarter rose to $28.06 billion from $22.46 billion last year. Amazon's operating costs continues rise as the company spends heavily on its online infrastructure and other projects. Investors have been somewhat tolerant of its losses as Amazon is perceived to be using its cash to prop up long-term growth.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company expects sales of $28.0 billion to $30.5 billion. Analysts currently estimate revenues of $28.33 billion.

AMZN closed Thursday's trading at $602.00, down $4.57 or 0.75%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $72.81 or 12.09% in the after-hours trade.