InternetAmazon profit doubles, beats estimates (AP)
AP - Amazon.com Inc. showed Wednesday that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer also raised its full-year revenue projections.
NEW YORK - Amazon.com Inc. showed Wednesday that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer also raised its full-year revenue projections. Sales were strong in several sections of Amazon's massive marketplace, and the company was helped substantially by a $53 million non-cash gain from the sale of European DVD rental assets. For the quarter that ended June 30, Amazon earned $158 million, or 37 cents per share. Amazon earned $78 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. The company's revenue climbed 41 percent to $4.06 billion, including a 35 percent leap in North American sales. The number of total active customer accounts also jumped, rising 18 percent to more than 81 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 26 cents per share on $3.96 billion in revenue in the quarter. Amazon shares rose $5.87, or 8.3 percent, to $76.41 in after-hours trading, after finishing regular trading up $2.57, or 3.8 percent, at $70.54. Sales of things like books, CDs and DVDs rose 31 percent to $2.41 billion in the second quarter, while electronics and other general merchandise sales soared 58 percent to $1.53 billion. One closely watched measure, the company's net shipping cost, climbed to $128 million from $75 million a year earlier. But Amazon... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]
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